The Land of the Lune

Transcription

John Self
Some comments on the first edition
“This is not a walking book although it does give 24 descriptions of walks and it’s not a history book - and does give
more history of the area than most of us dreamt of. The Land of the Lune is best described as a book of the Lune
landscape. It uses the language and stories of people who live there now and in past centuries, but I am left with a more
powerful impression of the hills, valleys and rivers that will outlast us all. John Self has clearly explored the Lune
Valley thoroughly. His love for the landscape comes through in his words complemented by his colour photography.”
(Lancaster Guardian, in describing its “Books of 2008”)
“... 230 extremely interesting pages on the areas of the Lakes, Yorkshire Dales and Lancashire through which the Lune
makes its way to the sea via Morecambe Bay.” (The Dalesman Magazine)
“The Land of the Lune is a guide to the region within the Lune watershed ... areas of England we know and love for
reasons which become obvious as you flick through this glossy paperback and see some of the stunning images captured
on camera ... Well-known peaks, pathways, becks and bridges litter the 230 pages and the author visits man-made
features of interest as well as exploring the way the landscape has developed over the centuries ... It is well-researched
and comprehensive.” (Westmorland Gazette)
“The Lune is one of Cumbria’s overlooked rivers, perhaps because the county has to share it with Yorkshire and
Lancashire ... Yet between its birth in the Howgill Fells and its end in Morecambe Bay its sixty-six miles drain a vast
area of hill country, claiming parts of Mallerstang, Whernside, Ingleborough and the Forest of Bowland in its domain.
John Self traces the course of the river and its tributaries with a collection of walks to help readers explore this unfairly
neglected watercourse.” (Cumbria Magazine)
“ ... a quality guide to the region of northwest England that lies within the Lune watershed. Filled with detail and colour
photographs.” (Carnforth Books)
“I would like to offer my congratulations on a fascinating and masterly piece of work. The range of your study is vast,
and I have learnt a great deal about an area which I thought, mistakenly, I knew something about!” (JS, Caton)
“If you have produced and published this beautiful book ‘all by yourself’ then I am amazed!!” (JH, Stockport)
“My wife recently gave me your book which I have enjoyed immensely. It is the first one where the author has delved
into the furthest reaches of the tributaries.” (JT, Kirkby Lonsdale)
“An extremely interesting and well produced book with a lot of information for anyone interested in visiting that area
of Cumbria and Lancashire.” (A review on Amazon)
“The book is well written by someone with a sense of humour and provides the keen walker and those just seeking
information about the Howgill hills a great reference book ... A real good read.” (Another review on Amazon)
“... a very nice book, obviously loads of research, good pictures and well written.” (LS, Preston)
“... attractive and helpful to a rambler like myself.” (JI, Lancaster)
“I enjoyed every page, and it won’t be long before I start all over again - as you do with excellent books.” (RH,
Bangor)
This is the Introduction to The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self
A guide to the region within the
Lune Watershed
– and its tributaries
A guide to the region within the
Lune Watershed
John Self
Drakkar Press
First published in January 2008 by
Drakkar Press Limited
20 Moorside Road, Brookhouse, Lancaster LA2 9PJ
http://www.drakkar.co.uk
[email protected]
First edition printed in 2008 by Stramongate Press, Aynam Mills, Little Aynam, Kendal LA9 7AH.
Second edition available on-line 2010.
Copyright © 2008, 2010 by Drakkar Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form by any means - graphic, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems without the prior permission of the
publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-9548605-1-6 (first edition)
ISBN: 978-0-9548605-2-3 (second edition)
Additional photographs:
Front cover: The Lune at the Crook o’Lune
Back cover: Carlin Gill from Grayrigg
The twenty-five bridges shown in these front pages are in the order they would be met on the journey described in this book. They
are (with grid references):
Page 3: Rayne Bridge over the River Lune (645055); bridge over Langdale Beck (648026); Wasdale Old Bridge over Wasdale
Beck (565084); M6 bridge over the River Lune near Tebay (612044); bridge over Borrow Beck (588011).
Page 4: Salterwath Bridge over the River Lune (612009); Carlingill Bridge over Carlingill Beck (624996); Lincoln’s Inn Bridge
over the River Lune (632923); Rawthey Bridge over the River Rawthey (714979); Double Hole Bridge over Stony Gill
(775923).
Page 5: bridge over Clough River at Garsdale (745896); Middleton Bridge over the River Rawthey (630898); Rigmaden Bridge
over the River Lune (617849); Hodge Bridge over Barbon Beck (623826); Stanley Bridge over the River Lune (615781).
Page 6: bridge over Ease Gill (675805); bridge over the River Greta at Burton-in-Lonsdale (653720); Flascoe Bridge over
Austwick Beck (774686); Tatham Bridge over the River Wenning (610692); Furnessford Bridge over the River Hindburn
(635669).
Page 7: suspension bridge over the River Roeburn (611650); bridge over Artle Beck (532655); Penny Bridge over the River Lune
(522647); bridge over the River Lune at Halton (503647); Skerton Bridge over the River Lune (480623).
Contents
Introduction
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Northern Howgills and Orton Fells
Shap Fells and Birkbeck Fells
Western Howgills and Firbank Fell
Upper Rawtheydale
Lower Rawtheydale and Dentdale
Middleton Fell
Middle Lunesdale and Leck Fell
The Greta Headwaters
Gretadale and a little more Lunesdale
The Wenning Headwaters
Wenningdale, Hindburndale and Roeburndale
The Lune Floodplain and the Top of Bowland
The Lune to Lancaster
The Salt Marshes
Into Morecambe Bay
Bibliography and References
Contact Details for Further Information
Index
9
15
31
45
61
79
93
107
123
139
153
169
187
201
217
231
245
247
254
Two views from the Crook o’Lune
Introduction 9
- and its tributaries
T
Introduction
he view from the Crook o’Lune at Caton is
tranquil. The River Lune, nestled deep within its
banks, meanders toward us from the hazy hills in
the distance. But on a few days each year the scene is
very different. The Lune then is a muddy torrent, raging
halfway up Penny Bridge and stretching wide across the
floodplain. An obvious question on such a day is: where
does all this water come from?
This book answers this question as a pretext for
providing a guide to a part of northwest England that is
generally overlooked. As we will see, the region within
the Lune watershed includes parts of the Lake District,
the Yorkshire Dales, the Forest of Bowland and the
Howgills, and all of what lies between them. Our region,
however, gets little attention. For example, the National
Trust, whose mission is to preserve “places of historic
interest or natural beauty”, owns about 350 sq km in
the Lake District and 60 sq km in the Yorkshire Dales
but within the Lune watershed only one public house,
and that it did not actively acquire but gained through
a bequest.
Perhaps this is understandable because the region
within the Lune watershed has none of England’s greatest
buildings, no major historic events happened here, none
of England’s greatest men or women were born or lived
here, and there are no sites of international ecological
importance. Even so, if we approach the region without
great expectations, we will find a great deal of interest
and appeal – not on the majestic scale of the best of the
Lake District but certainly not deserving of complete
neglect. There have been thousands of books written on
the Lakes but hardly a handful on the Lune region.
The reputation of the region suffers from it being
hurried through by people on their way to the Lakes
and the Dales. It has long been regarded as a kind of
consolation for those unable to reach their intended
destination. For example, The Pictorial History of the
County of Lancaster, published in 1854, said “The vale
of the Lune may now be visited from London in a day,
thanks to railroads; and if the stranger go not as far as
Furness or Westmoreland, he may still say he has entered
the portal of the northern scenery of England, and found
that alone has repaid his visit, especially if he prefer the
tranquil in nature to the severe and grand – to pore over
the bubbling brook, rather than listen to the thunders of
the cataract”.
We will follow the waters of the Lune and all its
tributaries as they make their way from the fells to the
estuary. This will take us through a variety of landscapes
– fells, moors, crags, valleys, pastures, floodplains and
estuary – but all the while, in our mind’s ear, we will be
accompanied by the comforting sounds of the beck and
river. The Lune itself is not a long river, a mere 105km,
but it drains 1285 sq km of varied terrain that fortunately
remains in a condition relatively unaffected by so-called
development. The Lune valley is a fine one but much
more of interest is added if we widen our scope to
include its tributaries.
A Word on Terminology
The phrase “the region within the Lune watershed” is
cumbersome. I will co-opt the old, now largely disused,
word ‘Loyne’ as shorthand for this phrase. ‘Lunesdale’
or ‘Lonsdale’ will not serve my purpose because they are
usually taken to refer narrowly to the valley of the Lune
itself. The few authors who have written on Lunesdale
have some difficulty in deciding how far to creep up the
tributaries – Sedbergh?, Bentham?, Ingleton? … My
rule is simple: if rain falling on an area makes its way to
the Lune estuary then the area is within my scope.
Loyne may seem an artificial construct compared
with the familiar counties and National Parks. In fact,
it is the administrative boundaries that are arbitrary –
witness the 1974 creation of the boundaries of Cumbria,
Lancashire and North Yorkshire, with the loss of
Cumberland and Westmorland, and the on-going debate
about changing the National Park boundaries. The Lake
District includes the Shap Fells but not the similar
Birkbeck Fells across the A6, although many regard
both as not really part of the Lakes. The Yorkshire Dales
National Park includes the southern half of the Howgills
but not the similar northern half. Many consider that
the Howgills should not be part of the Dales and would
rather include, say, Wild Boar Fell.
To anyone looking from the Crook o’Lune,
Loyne seems perfectly coherent. Everything we see is
within Loyne, and a great deal of Loyne can be seen.
Ingleborough and Whernside, for example, seem clearly
to belong to Loyne.
10 The Land of the Lune
Lancaster’s “Luck to Loyne” crest
The Aim of this Book
The implicit aim of most guides is to encourage readers
to visit that which is described. My aim is the opposite.
I intend to describe a virtual, vicarious journey that may
be enjoyed in an armchair by the fireside, thereby saving
you time, energy and expense and protecting the serenity
and loneliness of Loyne for those who enjoy that sort of
thing, like me. (Reviewers of a draft manuscript have
warned me that readers cannot see the tongue in my
cheek, so I will henceforth do my best to remove it.)
A Note about the Walks
There are outlines of 24 walks in this book. It is strongly
advised that the suggested route be traced on the
appropriate 1:25000 Ordnance Survey (OS) map before
you embark on any of the walks. The descriptions given
here are not adequate unless used in conjunction with the
OS map. The region is covered by maps OL19 (Howgill
Fells and Upper Eden Valley), OL7 (The English Lakes,
south-eastern area), OL2 (Yorkshire Dales, southern
and western areas), OL41 (Forest of Bowland and
Ribblesdale) and Explorer 296 (Lancaster, Morecambe
and Fleetwood).
The outlines do not give step-by-step instructions
as in specialist walking books. The idea is that, once
you have traced the proposed route, you should adapt it
as necessary to suit your own needs. Each route passes
points of interest mentioned in the pages preceding the
walk description. Always bear in mind that the walk
details, such as they are, are provided in good faith but
their continued correctness cannot be guaranteed.
All the suggested walks are full-day** (five or six
hour) loops from a car-parking spot. If you can reach the
starting point by bicycle or public transport please do
so. Unfortunately, the details of public transport are too
changeable to be given here.
The walks require a good standard of fitness but
there is no need for the heroic scrambling of some
Lakeland walks. However, some walks do venture into
wild, remote areas and accidents can happen anywhere.
To be on the safe side, here is a list of items that you
should take (created by merging the lists in half a dozen
serious walking books on my shelf): map, compass,
food, drink, waterproofs, hat, gloves, survival bag,
whistle, torch with spare batteries, mobile phone, a GPS
(global positioning system) and three people. The last
are to help carry all the clobber, or you, if you should
have that accident. Always leave information or tell
someone about your intended route and estimated time
of return, check weather conditions and forecasts before
setting out, and wear appropriate clothes and footwear.
(To avoid being hypocritical, I admit that some of my
reconnoitring involved running around with only a map
stuffed in my shorts. Very foolish.)
Walking on the fells had been accepted (except in
the Bowland Fells) even where there was no right of
way. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 has
provided official access to what I will refer to as ‘CRoW
land’. Always enter CRoW land by public footpaths or
official entry points, where there is generally a ‘welcome’
sign or a brown ‘walking man’ sign.
The 24 walks are listed in the Index (page 262).
** In this second edition I have, in response to popular
request, added a short walk (about three hours) variation,
wherever possible from the same starting point as the
long walk.
Introduction 11
Acknowledgements
Writing a general guide such as this is a humbling
experience. I found that every topic, however obscure
– be it within history, botany, geology, or whatever – on
which I needed to write a sentence or two has been the
subject of a lifetime’s devoted study by somebody. In a
non-academic book, extensive references and footnotes
are not appropriate but I am nonetheless very grateful for
their unacknowledged work and hope that they will not
pounce upon me for my superficial misrepresentation of
it.
I will, however, name with gratitude those brave
friends who commented upon a draft manuscript: Jim
Foster, Lesley Jordan, Bob Lauder, Michael Mumford
and Clare Napier. I have done my best to respond to their
views – even though it wasn’t always easy to reconcile
them! Overall, I much appreciated that they found time
for this. As is traditional, I claim full responsibility for
all the errors and faults that remain.
I am particularly grateful for the comments and
encouragement of my son Martin and daughter Pamela,
and for their advice on matters of technology and design.
Without their enthusiasm the project might never have
got underway.
Most of all, I’m grateful to my wife Ruth for being
much more of a partner in producing this book than it
appears from the text. Apart from giving opinions and
encouragement and overseeing overall ‘quality control’,
she accompanied me on many of the exploratory
expeditions. I have mainly used the first person singular
in the text because the reviewers found it disconcerting
to keep switching between “we” and “I”, depending on
whether Ruth happened to be there or not, and it seemed
odd for me to write “we” for those occasions when Ruth
was not present. On all occasions, Ruth was there in
spirit if not in reality.
Feedback
All feedback – comments, suggestions, questions,
corrections and updates – will be gratefully received. I
have tried to ensure that the content is factually reliable
(but inevitably there will be misunderstandings and
mistakes) and up-to-date (but Loyne covers a large area
and although it may not seem to change much it does
change a little, without telling me). Therefore, all help
in maintaining this on-line second edition will be very
welcome. Please send all comments to the publisher,
Drakkar Press, at the address given in the front pages.
The Flow of the Book
The flow of the book is determined by the flow of the
becks and rivers that eventually reach the Lune estuary.
We will take an imaginary journey in which we follow the
Lune from its source, surveying points of interest nearby,
and whenever we meet a significant tributary we will be
magically transported to the source of that tributary and
will begin a journey from there, eventually to continue
the journey down the Lune. If we meet a significant subtributary, we will similarly be transported to its source.
So, for example, when, travelling down the Lune, we
meet the River Rawthey, we will be transported to its
source on West Baugh Fell – and in due course when we
meet Clough River, a tributary of the Rawthey, we will
be transported to its source on East Baugh Fell – before
eventually resuming our journey on the Rawthey and
later the Lune.
In this way, we will systematically cover every part
of Loyne. The emphasis on the watercourses is partly
a structural device but serves also to highlight their
importance in shaping the character of the region and to
bring to the fore some of its more attractive features. The
imagined flight to the source of the tributaries will take
us from the valleys, where habitation and its consequent
changes are concentrated, to the fells, which change little
from one generation to the next. Throughout Loyne,
the fells provide a reassuring background, supporting a
quiet reflection on the heritage and attractiveness of the
region.
For those who wish to follow the narrative closely,
the next two pages give a more detailed list of the book’s
contents, followed by a map of Loyne. Twenty-two
tributaries of the Lune (from Bowderdale Beck to Broad
Fleet) are given section headings. These have single
indents in the list below. Some of the tributaries have
sub-tributaries that have been given section headings. For
example, the River Rawthey has sub-tributaries of Sally
Beck, Clough River and the River Dee. Sub-tributaries
have double indents. A “…” in a section heading means
that the description of that river is continued in a later
section. For example, the Rawthey is described in four
sections, separated by the three sub-tributaries.
Detailed Contents
Chapter 1: Northern Howgills and Orton Fells
The River Lune … (Green Bell; the Howgills; Newbiggin-on-Lune)
Bowderdale Beck
The Lune from Bowderdale Beck … (Kelleth)
Langdale Beck (The Calf)
Rais Beck (Sunbiggin; Raisbeck)
Chapel Beck (Orton Fells; Orton)
The Lune from Chapel Beck … (Tebay)
15
17
18
21
21
24
26
29
Chapter 2: Shap Fells and Birkbeck Fells
Birk Beck (Shap Fells; Birkbeck Fells; Greenholme)
Bretherdale Beck
The Lune from Birk Beck … (Roundthwaite)
Borrow Beck (Harrop Pike; Crookdale; Borrowdale; Whinfell)
31
33
35
37
40
Chapter 3: Western Howgills and Firbank Fell
The Lune from Borrow Beck … (Low Borrowbridge)
Carlingill Beck (Black Force)
The Lune from Carlingill Beck … (Lowgill; Howgill)
Capplethwaite Beck (Firbank Fell)
The Lune from Capplethwaite Beck …
45
47
48
51
57
59
Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale
The River Rawthey … (Baugh Fell)
Sally Beck (Wild Boar Fell; the Clouds)
The Rawthey from Sally Beck … (Cautley Spout)
Clough River (Grisedale; Garsdale)
61
63
66
70
74
Chapter 5: Lower Rawtheydale and Dentdale
The Rawthey from the Clough … (Sedbergh)
The River Dee (Blea Moor; Dentdale; Great Knoutberry Hill;
Whernside; Deepdale; Great Coum; Dent)
The Rawthey from the Dee
79
81
83
91
Chapter 6: Middleton Fell
The Lune from the Rawthey … (Killington; Middleton)
Stockdale Beck (Middleton Fell)
The Lune from Stockdale Beck … (Rigmaden; Mansergh)
Barbon Beck (Barbondale; Barbon)
93
95
98
100
102
Chapter 7: Middle Lunesdale and Leck Fell
The Lune from Barbon Beck … (Casterton; Kirkby Lonsdale)
Leck Beck (Leck Fell; Gragareth; Leck; Cowan Bridge; Burrow)
The Lune from Leck Beck …
107
109
115
121
Chapter 8: The Greta Headwaters
The River Greta (Chapel Beck) … (Little Dale; Chapel-le-Dale;
Ingleborough)
Kingsdale Beck (Kingsdale; Thornton Force)
123
125
133
Introduction 13
Chapter 9: Gretadale and a little more Lunesdale
The Greta from Kingsdale Beck (Ingleton; Masongill;
Burton-in-Lonsdale)
Cant Beck (Ireby; Cantsfield; Tunstall)
Newton Beck (Whittington)
The Lune from Newton Beck … (Arkholme; Melling; Gressingham)
139
Chapter 10: The Wenning Headwaters
The River Wenning … (Gaping Gill; Clapham)
Austwick Beck (Crummackdale; Moughton; Austwick)
Fen Beck (Lawkland)
Kettles Beck (Bowland Knotts)
The Wenning from Kettles Beck … (Newby)
Keasden Beck (Great Harlow; Burn Moor; Keasden)
153
155
157
163
164
165
166
Chapter 11: Wenningdale, Hindburndale and Roeburndale
The Wenning from Keasden Beck … (Mewith; Bentham;
Wennington)
The River Hindburn (White Hill; Lowgill)
The River Roeburn (Wolfhole Crag; Mallowdale; Wray)
The Wenning from the Hindburn (Hornby)
169
Chapter 12: The Lune Floodplain and the Top of Bowland
The Lune from the Wenning …
Farleton Beck and Claughton Beck (Farleton; Claughton)
The Lune from Farleton Beck and Claughton Beck … (Aughton)
Bull Beck (Caton Moor; Brookhouse)
The Lune from Bull Beck …
Artle Beck (Ward’s Stone; Littledale; Caton)
187
189
190
192
193
195
196
Chapter 13: The Lune to Lancaster
The Lune from Artle Beck … (Halton; Skerton; Green Ayre;
Lancaster; St George’s Quay)
201
Chapter 14: The Salt Marshes
The Lune from Lancaster ...
Burrow Beck
The River Conder (Quernmore; Galgate; Thurnham)
The Lune from the Conder … (Glasson; Overton)
217
219
221
223
229
Chapter 15: Into Morecambe Bay
The Lune from the Conder (continued) … (Sunderland)
The River Cocker (Forton; Cockerham)
Broad Fleet (Nateby; Pilling)
Reflections from the Point of Lune
231
233
236
240
243
Index
245
247
254
141
145
148
149
171
175
179
184
203
Orton
•
Harrop Pike ▲
River Lune
•
• Newbiggin-on-Lune
Tebay
▲ Green Bell
Whinfell Beacon ▲
▲
The Calf
Sedbergh
Ri
R iv
•
er R
awt
h ey
▲ Wild Boar Fell
Clo
ve
ugh
rD
ee
•
Great
Coum ▲
Kirkby Lonsdale
▲ Baugh
Fell
Riv
er
Dent
▲ Great
Knoutberry
Hill
Whernside
▲
•
▲ Ingleborough
• Ingleton
River Greta
e
un
•
rL
e
v
Hornby
Ri
Halton
•
Caton
Lancaster
River
• Bentham
Wenn
ing
•
•
Ward’s Stone ▲
•
Galgate
▲
Wolfhole
Crag
▲ Bowland Knotts
▲ White Hill
Cockerham
•
Pilling
•
Scale: 10 cm to 35 km
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35 kilometres
CHAPTER 1:
Northern
Howgills and
Orton Fells
16 Chapter 1: Northern Howgills and Orton Fells
walk 2
Knott ▲
•
Sunbiggin Tarn
• Raisbeck
* Rayseat long cairn
B e ck
is
Kelleth
Longdale •
Lune Wath
• River
•
•
S
lk
dal
Lang
wa
West
Fell
▲
• Weasdale
ck
Simon’s
Seat
▲
Newbiggin-on-Lune
1
a le B e
Bowderd
ec
eB
k
* St Helen’s Well
e G
ill
5
Ra
ec
k
0
Ch
ap
el
B
26
B6
*
Stone
circle
D al
Orton • S
A68
Sunbiggin
* source of the Lune
▲
Green Bell
▲
Randygill
Top
▲ Yarlside
The Calf ▲
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
This is Chapter 1 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self
The River Lune ... 17
A
The River Lune ...
great oak may grow from a single acorn but great
rivers need very many sources. For some reason,
we like to distinguish one of these as the source
of the river, although there are no agreed rules for doing
so. The determination of the source of the Lune has been
made easy for us by the fact that its name continues far
upstream along one particular branch among its many
headwaters, to the helpfully named village of Newbigginon-Lune, 9km east of Tebay.
Above Newbiggin-on-Lune, various becks run
north off Green Bell to form the infant Lune. Of these
the longest and highest is Dale Gill, arising from a spring
200m northeast of the Green Bell summit (605m). Since
any rain falling just north of Green Bell will drain into
the Lune we may regard Green Bell itself as our soughtfor source. Green Bell is an appropriate name for the
rounded, grassy hill but then so it would be for most
of the fifty or so other named summits in the Howgills.
Green Bell, however, is rightly honoured with a trig
point, one of only four in the Howgills (the others being
at Winder, Middleton and The Calf).
Dale Gill runs 4km north from Green Bell, changing
name twice (to Greenside Beck and Dry Beck), to
become the Lune at Newbiggin-on-Lune. Here, Bessy
Beck joins the Lune after refreshing the three lakes of a
trout fishery. Bessy Beck may be named after Elizabeth
Gaunt of Tower House, near Brownber
Hall, who in 1685 gained the dubious
distinction of being the last woman
to be burned at the stake in England.
Although she may now be regarded
as a virtuous, charitable lady only
too willing to help those in need, the
fact seems to be that she knowingly
helped someone involved in a plot to
assassinate Charles II. The penalty for
high treason duly followed.
Newbiggin-on-Lune is spread
out along what is now a large lay-by,
The Howgills is the name given to the homogeneous
group of hills in the triangle of about 100 sq km between
Ravenstonedale, Sedbergh and Tebay (or between the
A685, the A683 and the Lune valley).
The hills are well drained, rounded and grassy, with
no bogs and little heather. There are no walls above the
pastures and only one fence. There are significant rocks
in only two places, Cautley Crag and Carlin Gill. So, the
Howgills is a place for striding out along the ridges – but
not across them for then you would have steep eroded
slopes to contend with.
The highest point is The Calf (676m), from which
the ridges radiate to over twenty further tops above 500m.
Walking is easy and airy but, according to Walking Britain
(2005), edited by Lou Johnson, “the Howgills have little
interest underfoot … The reward for scaling the heights
comes from the superb views of the Northern Pennines, the
eastern fells of the Lake District, and the higher peaks of
the Yorkshire Dales”.
This, however, is the wrong frame of mind for tackling
the Howgills. The Howgills must be appreciated on their
own merits. There is no need to be envious of the other peaks
(yes, the views are good but a little distant to be “superb”).
As often the case, Harry Griffin captured the required
spirit best in one of the last of the Country Diary vignettes,
usually about the Lake District, that he contributed for over
fifty years to the Guardian: “the Howgill Fells have always
entranced me. Compared with Lakeland, overrun by the
hordes and vastly over-publicized, they have retained their
quiet, unspoiled beauty.”
Two pages before: Green Bell trig
point, looking over Weasdale.
Right: The view north standing at
the source of the Lune on Green
Bell.
bypassed by the A685 but not by far enough, as it is
quite noisy. At the eastern end of Newbiggin-on-Lune
is the old St Helen’s Well, which some people insist is
the source of the Lune, because it is never dry, unlike
the Green Bell springs. As this would add dignity to the
Lune’s birth, it deserves investigation. I was informed
at the Lune Spring Garden Centre that the well lies
just across the A685 behind the chapel. The chapel, it
transpires, is a small mound and the well just a seepage
in the field, which is most uninspiring compared to the
slopes of Green Bell.
The fledgling Lune turns west and after 2km reaches
Wath, which most on-line encyclopedias assert is the
start of the Lune, at the confluence of Sandwath Beck
and Weasdale Beck. This seems absurd, as we have
already passed Newbiggin, which insists it is on-Lune.
The appendage, however, is a new one: the 1861 OS
map has a simple Newbiggin. But the old map considers
the stream, which the encyclopedias regard as Sandwath
Beck, resulting from the merger of becks east of Wath to
be the River Lune, as I have done.
Weasdale Beck, equal in size to the Lune at this
point, runs north from near Randygill Top (624m)
through the fine, deep valleys of Weasdale and Great
Swindale. These valleys, however, are not as fine as
the adjacent, parallel Bowderdale, through which flows
Bowderdale Beck to join the now undisputed Lune 1km
below Wath.
The Lune near Wath (Green Bell in the distance)
Bowderdale Beck
T
here is nobility in the simplicity of Bowderdale.
What you see is definitely what you get: there are no
hidden secrets. And yet it is a marvellous valley, running
due north for 6km or so and forming the prototypical
U-shape that illustrates the effects of glaciation. There
are also fine examples of Holocene (that is, post-glacial)
fluvial erosion, with alluvial fans, terraces, meanders
and braided channels.
Bowderdale Beck runs uneventfully from the head of
Bowderdale, 2km from The Calf, to the small community
of Bowderdale and then to join the Lune. The region
provides a typical Howgills walking area, with its long,
open ridges and steep, grassy slopes, striped with sheep
tracks, falling to an enclosed valley, empty of manmade
objects apart from a few old sheepfolds. There is little
excitement to be found on the ridge tops: Yarlside has a
distinctive dome; Kensgriff a few crags; Randygill Top
a small cairn; otherwise, there are just gentle rises that
provide extensive views.
The effects of glaciation are widespread in Loyne. It has
been covered with ice several times and in the last glacial
period, ending about 10,000 years ago, all but the highest
tops were under ice.
Glaciation has two general effects: erosion and
deposition. The most apparent erosive effect is the
scouring of valleys (such as Bowderdale), deepening and
straightening them to form the characteristic U or parabolic
shape. When ice accumulates in the lee of valleys, it may
form bowl-shaped cirques with deep sides. Generally,
though, Loyne rocks are too soft to provide the more
spectacular glacial forms seen, for example, in the Scottish
Highlands.
Deposits are in the form of till or boulder clay, that is,
largish pebbles in clay dropped by the ice, and sands and
gravel left by the actions of glacial meltwater. Drumlins
– the rolling, hummocky hills formed from boulder clay
– are common in Loyne. Sometimes, the deposits at the
ends or sides of glaciers (terminal or lateral moraines)
form barriers sufficient to change watersheds. The most
intriguing deposits are erratics, which are rocks carried on
glaciers and left in an alien landscape.
The detailed effects of glaciation are difficult to
unravel, especially when they involve major changes such
as the breaking through of watersheds, the formation of
new flow directions as glaciers block one another, and the
sudden release of huge volumes of meltwater.
Bowderdale Beck 19
Looking down Bowderdale
Walk 1: A Circuit of Bowderdale, including Green Bell
Map: OL19 (please read the general note about the walks in the Introduction).
Starting point: Near Wath on the road south of the A685 (685050).
There are three obvious routes between Bowderdale Foot and the head of Bowderdale – the west ridge, the east ridge, and
the valley bottom. Higher mathematics shows that there are six loops possible.
The walk along the valley bottom should be experienced, but not on a first visit. Impressive though the symmetrical valley
is, it becomes claustrophobic after a while. There is only one view and only the odd sheepfold to break the monotony. The west
ridge, beginning with West Fell, is the better one, providing good views into Bowderdale and Langdale and, in the distance, an
evolving panorama of the hills of the Lakes and Dales.
So begin by setting off southwest, past Brow Foot, to Bowderdale Foot and then onto the footpath that leads to West Fell
and Hazelgill Knott. You will meet many sheep, a few ponies perhaps, and, only if you are really lucky (or unlucky, as the case
may be), one or two other walkers.
Continue 2km south of Hazelgill Knott and, as the path begins to swing right (heading for The Calf), leave it to turn east to
Hare Shaw and Bowderdale Head to the unnamed hill south of Yarlside. Head north over Yarlside, Kensgriff and Randygill Top,
with distant views of Cross Fell, Wild Boar Fell, Ingleborough and the Lakes skyline.
Continue to Green Bell, where you may locate the spring that is the source of the Lune, just below some ruins off the Green
Bell to Knoutberry path. As you wish, follow the fledgling Lune down or, better, the path over Stwarth, in both cases cutting
across to Weasdale and thence to Wath (just follow the OS map through gates and fields: there are few reassuring signposts).
The distances are long but walking is easy apart from on the slopes of Yarlside. Route finding may be a challenge on the
eastern ridge but the trig point on Green Bell is a reassuring presence.
Short walk variation: A short walk up Bowderdale is hardly possible without tackling its steep slopes, so instead head directly for
Green Bell. Walk through Gars to Weasdale and then up Stwarth to Green Bell. Then, from the source of the Lune, follow Dale
Gill to Dale Tongue and cut over to Weasdale and then back.
Looking up Bowderdale
The Lune from Bowderdale Beck ... 21
The Lune from Bowderdale Beck ...
T
he Lune runs due west, more due than it used to as
it was straightened to run alongside the A685 when
it was rebuilt on the line of the old Newbiggin-on-Lune
to Tebay railway after it closed in 1962. This seems an
unnecessarily brutal way to treat the young Lune, just as
it is making its way in the world.
Becks, such as Flakebridge Beck and Cotegill Beck,
continue to enter the Lune from the south but very little
water flows from the north. The old limestone quarries
and limekilns that are seen on the slopes between
Potlands and Kelleth hint at the reason for the dryness of
the northern slopes. Limekilns, which usually date from
the 18th or 19th century, were used to burn limestone to
make quicklime. This was then slaked with water and
used to reduce the acidity of pastures and also to limewash buildings. The limestone was tipped into the
kiln from the top onto a fire of coal or wood, and then
more coal and limestone layered on top. The open arch
provided air to keep the fire going.
The members of Kelleth Rigg’s herd of pedigree
Blonde d’Aquitaine cattle look lime-washed too. Kelleth
itself is a small village, recently enlarged by new building,
aligned along the now quiet road by-passed by the A685.
The Lune reaches the rather ornate Rayne Bridge, built
of red sandstone. Well, the parapet and wall are of red
sandstone – the bridge itself isn’t, as a side view from
the east reveals. The bridge was built in 1903 to replace
one that required an abrupt turn on the road. Soon after
Rayne Bridge, Langdale Beck joins the Lune.
The Lune at Kelleth
Langdale Beck
L
angdale Beck runs north from The Calf for 12km
through the deserted valley of Langdale to emerge
at the small village of Longdale, close by the Lune.
There is sometimes debate about which of Langdale
or Longdale has been misspelled but they are surely
different renditions of the northern vowel sound that we
have in auld lang syne. Anyway, the dale is undoubtedly
the langest in the Howgills.
The Calf is the focal point of the Howgills and from
it there are extensive views in all directions. To the south,
the Lune looks like a snail’s trail entering Morecambe
Bay, and circling around we see the Bowland Fells,
Ingleborough, Whernside, Pen-y-Ghent, Baugh Fell,
Wild Boar Fell, and Cross Fell. Most eyes, however, will
be drawn westwards in the attempt to identify the classic
Lakeland peaks, such as Crinkle Crags, Great Gable and
Blencathra. The Calf itself is hardly a peak, being merely
slightly higher than several nearby mounds. There is no
bird’s eye view into nearby valleys that the best peaks
provide.
The Calf has many ridges leading towards it but it is
closer to the southern point of the Howgills triangle than
it is to the northern side. To the south there is one main
ridge (from Winder by Arant Haw) but to the north there
are many long, complicated, interlocking ridges, all very
similar in appearance. Langdale Beck itself drains a vast
area, with several significant tributaries creating deep
gullies with ridges between them.
The apparently timeless appearance of the Howgills
is misleading. Pollen evidence indicates that a few
thousand years ago Langdale was wooded, with alder,
birch and hazel on the valley floor and oak and elm on the
slopes. The almost complete removal of the woodland,
probably following the introduction of sheep farming in
the 10th century, has led to greatly increased soil erosion
and gully development.
Walking around Langdale is deceptively easy.
Physically, there is little problem because the grass is
easy to walk on and the slopes are gentle. There are more
tracks than are marked on the map, thanks to the farmers’
quads rather than walkers or sheep. Most people will
opt to walk on the ridges but if you wish to sample a
Howgills valley then Langdale is the best, because the
middle section has a flat valley bottom that provides an
openness lacking in other valleys, such as Bowderdale,
and there is an interesting series of incoming gullies.
Langdale from West Fell
The main problem is one of navigation. This is an
area where you should heed the advice to know where
you are on the map at all times. Don’t walk for two
hours and then try to work it out because there are few
distinctive features to help you. Keep careful track of the
few features there are (sheepfolds, gullies, scree) and if
on the ridges identify the few distinguishable tops (Green
Bell and Middleton with trig points, Randygill Top) and
keep them in perspective as you move along. Above the
pastures, there is no sign of past human habitation or
exploitation, such as quarries, to serve as a guide.
It is my duty not to exaggerate the attractions of
walking in the Howgills. Given a choice between walking
in the Lakes or the Howgills, I would choose the former
nine times out of ten. But on that tenth occasion, I’d look
forward to wandering lonely less the crowd.
The ordinary walker will relish the scenery and
solitude but specialists such as geologists and botanists
will find more of interest, especially within the eroded
gullies and scree slopes that are rarely visited by human
or sheep.
Langdale Beck is formed by the merger of West,
Middle and East Grain below The Calf, with the
relatively distinctive top of Simon’s Seat (587m) to the
west. Near a picturesque packhorse bridge, Nevy Gill
and the combined waters of Churngill Beck and Uldale
Beck join Langdale Beck, which then continues through
wooded pastures that are not part of CRoW land.
Langdale Beck is a fair size by the time it reaches
Longdale, a village of one farm, one row of cottages, a
couple more buildings, and the old school house. Within
the last began the education of Thomas Barlow (16071691), who became Bishop of Lincoln. He is a candidate
model for the traditional folk song character, the Vicar of
Bray, who blithely adapted his religious beliefs to meet
the changing political needs of the day. This is surely
a calumny, for northerners are known for the stalwart
independence of their views.
To the west of Longdale is the growing village of
Gaisgill, on the Ellergill Beck tributary of the Lune.
New ‘luxury homes’ have been built on the site of an
old garage. Nearby are a number of slightly less new
residences, and beyond them New House, dated 1848,
and beyond that Barbara’s Cottage, with a defiant date
of 1648.
Langdale Beck almost doubles the size of the
infant Lune, which is next joined by the first significant
tributary from the north, Rais Beck.
Langdale Beck 23
A walker near the head of Langdale (to the left), heading for The Calf
Langdale, near Langdale Knott, with fell ponies
Sunbiggin Tarn, with the northern Howgills beyond
Rais Beck
R
ais Beck drains the broad, tranquil pastures that
lie between Sunbiggin and the ridge of 300m hills
to the north of the Lune between Newbiggin-on-Lune
and Raisgill Hall. It is formed by becks that run west
from Sunbiggin Tarn and south from the small village
of Sunbiggin.
The area around Sunbiggin Tarn and the adjacent
Cow Dub Tarn is appreciated by ornithologists, botanists
and malacologists (that is, experts on molluscs) – and
also by leisurely picnickers watching the shadows
lengthen on the Howgills. Although Sunbiggin Tarn
forms only 6 ha of open water, it is the largest for some
distance around and is therefore an oasis for many birds.
Breeding species include wigeon, teal, tufted duck,
gadwall, mallard, little grebe, sedge warbler, water rail,
lapwing, curlew, redshank and snipe. The large colony
of black-headed gulls for which the tarn was known has
recently moved away.
The tarn lies within a limestone upland and is
surrounded by heath, acid grassland, swamps, and areas
of chalky mire. These soils support a rich variety of plant
life, including various sedges, rushes and mosses as well
as the marsh orchid and rare bird’s eye primrose.
And for those malacologists, there are two rare
snails: Vertigo geyeri is known at no other British site
and Catinella arenaria at only three others. So, there’s
something of interest underfoot here at least.
The outflow from Sunbiggin Tarn joins Rayseat Sike
to form Tarn Sike, which is a Cumbria Wildlife Trust
nature reserve. Rayseat Sike runs by a Neolithic barrow
that was excavated in 1875 by William Greenwell, who
was, amongst many other things, a canon at Durham
Cathedral. In his remarkable 98-year life he investigated
400 burial sites and provided thousands of artefacts for
the British Museum. He served as a magistrate until the
age of 85 when he gained notoriety for suggesting that
speeding motorcyclists should be shot.
I would expect Rayseat Long Cairn to rank highly
among Canon Greenwell’s 400. The barrow is 70m long
and has a number of chambers in which burnt human
remains were found. Archaeologists speculate that it
could be one of the oldest such relics in the region. It is an
evocative site, now isolated on a rather bleak moor.
Tarn Sike runs into a large pond at Holme House,
where it seeps away – except after heavy rain, when
it continues to form Rais Beck proper at Slapestone
Bridge, joining with becks running from the quietly
rural hamlets of Sunbiggin and Raisbeck. The latter
has a notice board with a helpful OS map so old that
all colour has long disappeared. The roads have wide
grass verges, indicating their origin as drove roads, with
limestone walls and scattered Scots pine and ash.
Rais Beck 25
Rais Beck gathers pace as it passes Fawcett Mill,
built in 1794 and now a holiday home. Five fields north
of the mill may seem unexceptional but they have been
designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for their
very naturalness. The site is one of the few remaining
traditionally managed plant-rich hay meadows,
relatively unspoilt by modern agricultural practices. The
flora includes betony, orchid, burnet, primrose, cowslip
and fescue.
Below Fawcett Mill is Raisgill Hall, a place with a
long history. There is an ancient tumulus nearby but it is
not worth a visit unless you are a trained archaeologist.
Manorial courts, to regulate the use of the commons,
were held at Raisgill Hall until the 18th century. They
were then taken over by the court at Orton, not without
considerable animosity and legal wrangling about the
boundaries and use of Orton and Raisbeck Commons.
However, the present owners of the Hall do not wallow
in the past: they are leaders of an active local farming
cooperative, which has received support from Prince
Charles, no less.
On a bench overlooking the Lune at Raisgill Hall
Bridge is carved “Go softly by this riverside for when
you would depart you’ll find it’s ever winding tied
Raisbeck pinfold, near Pinfold Bridge
and knotted round your heart”, which, if there weren’t
five differences, I’d assume to be an unacknowledged
quotation from The Prairie by Rudyard Kipling. We
bear the sentiments in mind as we follow the Lune for
1.5km with Tebaygill Beck joining from the south and
then Chapel Beck from the north.
The view across Sunbiggin Moor to the Howgills
Chapel Beck
T
he Lune watershed north of the A685 is formed by
the Orton Fells, comprising Orton Scar, Great Asby
Scar and Little Asby Scar. These are examples of karst, a
kind of landscape that we will meet elsewhere in Loyne.
The Orton Fells provide the largest area of limestone
pavement in England outside the Yorkshire Dales. It is
unfortunately not as large as it was because of earlier
quarrying but the area is now protected by law.
The best undamaged pavements are found on Great
Asby Scar, to the north of Raisbeck and Sunbiggin, and
are now protected as a reserve by Natural England. The
folding and jointing of the pavements is particularly
notable. The exposure of the site and the effects of
over-grazing have left only a few stunted trees, such as
hawthorn and holly. Within the grikes further woody and
non-woody species flourish, especially various ferns and
herbs.
The dry surface of these limestone plateaus was no
doubt partly why it was a favoured area for human
habitation long ago, as shown by the many remains of
Karst refers to any terrain with soluble bedrock where, as
a result, there is little or no surface drainage. It is named
after an area of Slovenia but there are many kinds of karst
in the world, depending on climate, location, type of
bedrock, and so on. In our case, the bedrock is limestone,
which is dissolved by the mildly acidic rainfall formed by
the absorption of carbon dioxide.
The rainwater dissolves fractures in the bedrock,
gradually enlarging them into deep fissures called grikes.
The limestone blocks between grikes are called clints. On
the surface, these limestone pavements look barren, as
little soil forms on the clints, but within the deep, sheltered
grikes specialised plant communities flourish.
Underground, the rainwater continues to erode the
limestone, until meeting an impermeable lower layer,
giving rise to several characteristic features, such as: caves
with stalactites and stalagmites; sinkholes, shakeholes,
swallowholes and potholes, through the collapse of bedrock
above a void; springs, as water emerges at an impermeable
layer; disappearing streams, through water flowing into a
pothole. Over time, as underground passages are adopted
and abandoned, complex and extensive cave systems may
develop, to be explored by potholers.
Limestone pavement at Great Kinmond on Orton Fells
Chapel Beck 27
Walk 2: Orton, Orton Fells and Sunbiggin Tarn
Starting point: The centre of Orton (622082).
Head for the unmistakable All Saints Church and walk east past the vicarage to locate the path north to Broadfell (on the left
bank of the beck). Take this path and after 100m follow the sign left through the houses. Thereafter, the path is clear, beside the
beck and beyond its spring, and emerges at a disused quarry on the B6260.
Cross the cattle grid and walk east on the north side of the wall to the monument on Beacon Hill. Within the extensive
panorama of the northern Pennines and the Howgills, locate on the skyline, 1km southeast, the trig point on Knott to the left of
a tree. That is your next objective.
Follow the wall east to a gate near the corner and through the gate turn half-left to another gate, picking up the bridleway.
Keep the tree in view and when the bridleway turns south leave it to head between limestone crags towards the tree. From the
trig point, there’s an excellent view, with Castle Folds prominent nearby. (Unfortunately, Castle Folds cannot be visited without
climbing a wall: the stile that can be seen is over an adjacent wall. In any case, I would not recommend walking east over the
limestone, as the clints are fragile and the grikes are deep. If you do so, a gate in the wall east at 658094 might be welcome.)
From the trig point, walk west on grass between the limestone to regain the bridleway and enter Knott Lane. Turn left on
a clear path (part of the Coast-to-Coast route) just north of the stone circle. Continue east to Acres and then along the quiet lane
to Sunbiggin and Stony Head, after which the road becomes a track. Shortly after entering the CRoW moorland, the bridleway
forks. Take the left branch heading northeast, to reach the road north of Spear Pots (a small tarn now almost overgrown). Walk
south on the grassy roadside verge to Sunbiggin Tarn, with good views of the Howgills beyond.
Past the cattle grid, take the bridleway right to reach the branch you met earlier. Now return to Knott Lane. This is the only
significant retracing of steps in our 24 walks but the path is excellent, with good views in both directions, and much better than
walking on the limestone scars or on the nearby roads. Cross Knott Lane and continue west past Scarside, across fields to Street
Lane and on to Orton.
Short walk variation: The long walk is a figure of eight. So the obvious short walk is to do half of the eight. Follow the long walk
to Knott Lane and then, instead of turning east to Acres, turn west to Scarside and Orton.
ancient earthworks on the Orton Fells. Castle Folds,
near the trig point on Knott, is an Iron Age site, with
the ruins of hut circles on a natural limestone platform.
Below Knott there’s an ancient 40m-diameter circle of
about thirty stones, of variable size, all but one of pink
granite.
The pink granite may be a surprise, below the
limestone scars, but the occasional pink boulder can be
seen perched on the limestone pavements and scattered
in fields. They are erratics, brought here from the Shap
Fells by glaciers. Prehistoric man is not alone in finding
a use for these intriguing boulders: some amusement can
be obtained in spotting them in barn walls, protecting
beck banks, ornamenting houses, and marking boundaries
(for example, Mitchell’s Stone, 1km north of Sunbiggin
Tarn).
The headwaters of Chapel Beck run from Orton
Scar, which on maps from the 16th century was marked
as “Orton Beacon” or by a beacon symbol. The beacon
warned of marauding Caledonians. Today Beacon Hill
has a prominent monument erected in 1887 for Queen
Victoria’s golden jubilee.
The becks run by and through Orton, the largest
settlement so far, as shown by the fact that we find our
first public house. Orton was made a market town in the
13th century and the numerous converging roads, tracks
and paths indicate Orton’s importance in the old droving
days. This rural heritage is echoed in the Orton Market
that today wins prizes, such as National Farmers Market
of the Year 2005, for its emphasis on local produce.
In 2006 Orton hosted a “Festival of the Rough
Fell” to celebrate the ancient breed of Rough Fell sheep,
its history, and the crafts associated with Rough Fell
farming. The majority of Rough Fell sheep are found
on the Howgills and surrounding fells. As the name
indicates, the Rough Fell is hardy enough to live on the
poor upland grasses of exposed fells. It is a large sheep,
with a black and white face and curved horns, renowned
for its thick wool, which is used to make carpets and
mattresses, and high quality meat.
The festival marked a recovery from the foot and
mouth epidemic of 2001, which caused great problems
throughout Loyne and, in particular, reduced the number
of Rough Fell sheep from 18,000 to 10,000. As the fells
were closed, the epidemic threatened the traditional
methods of fell management, whereby every flock knows
its own territory or ‘heaf’, with each lamb learning it
from its mother.
The mingling of old and new typifies modern
Orton: from the stocks near the church to the chocolates
from the recently established industry. Likewise, among
the few modern dwellings are some fine old buildings.
Petty Hall has a door lintel dated 1604. Orton Hall, to
the south, was built in 1662 and was once the home of
Richard Burn (1709-1785), vicar of Orton and author of
texts on the law and local history.
The All Saints Church was built in the 13th century,
replacing earlier temporary structures, and has been
rebuilt several times since. Inside the church there is a
display of three old bells, the oldest of 1530, and a list
of vicars back to 1293. The early 16th century west tower
is the oldest remaining part and today is an eye-catching
off-white. After modern methods to seal the leaking
tower failed, it was decided to resort to the traditional
treatment of lime washing. So far, it has worked.
Chapel Beck gains its name as it runs south past
Chapel House, where there is a spring, Lady Well, which
Rough Fell sheep
was known for its health-giving properties. As Chapel
Beck approaches the Lune we may glance east up the
Lune valley towards Newbiggin-on-Lune and reflect on
the contrast between the hills to the north (Orton Fells)
and to the south (the Howgills).
The geology of Loyne has a major impact on the
appearance and activities of the region but it is not as
complicated as, for example, the Lake District’s geology.
In general, rocks are of three types: sedimentary (formed
by the settlement of debris), igneous (derived from
magma or lava that has solidified on the earth’s surface)
and metamorphic (rocks that have been altered by heat
and pressure). The bedrocks of Loyne are almost entirely
sedimentary, with the sediments having been laid down
in the following order (youngest on top, naturally):
• about 300m years ago: Carboniferous (Silesian)
– mainly millstone grit
• about 350m years ago: Carboniferous (Dinantian)
– mainly limestone
• about 400m years ago: Devonian
– mainly sandstone
• about 450m years ago: Silurian and Ordovician
– mainly slates and shales.
The Howgills (apart from
the northeast corner) have had all
layers eroded away to the Silurian
and Ordovician. Orton Fells have
been eroded to the Carboniferous
limestone. Clearly, if the Howgills
still had a Carboniferous limestone
layer it would be much higher than
Orton Fells. This implies a tilt or slip
(a fault) to raise the Howgills side,
which would have made it more
exposed and vulnerable to erosion.
The word ‘fault’ suggests a minor
matter but the slippage, spread over
millennia, would have been of a
kilometre or more (the 2005 Asian
tsunami is thought to have been
caused by a slippage of a few metres).
There are literally all sorts of twists
and turns – some sudden, some slow
(but over unimaginable timescales)
– to complicate this brief outline but
it may serve as a starting point for
understanding Loyne geology.
The Lune from Chapel Beck ... 29
All Saints Church, Orton
The Lune from Chapel Beck ...
I
mmediately after Chapel Beck joins, the Lune passes
under Tebay Bridge, a sign that we are approaching
Tebay. The village is split in two by the A685: the original
part now called Old Tebay and the newer part Tebay. In
the early 19th century Old Tebay was a community of
about ten houses, with Tebay consisting of little more
than the 17th century Cross Keys Inn.
In one of those houses lived Mary Baines (17211811), who was alleged to be a witch and is said to still
haunt the Cross Keys Inn. She was feared for various
diabolical deeds, such as foretelling “fiery horseless
carriages” (that is, trains), but why she should be feared
for a forecast that did not come true before her death is
hard to see.
When the railways did arrive, they transformed
Tebay. With a station on the west coast main line, which
opened in 1846, and a junction to the line that ran through
Newbiggin-on-Lune to the east coast, Tebay was a key
part of the Loyne railway network. In addition, there
were many sidings for the engines that were used to
boost trains over the Shap summit. The village migrated
south to be closer to the rail-yards, with terraces for railworkers and a Junction Hotel being built a kilometre
south. St James Church, with its distinctive round tower
and conical top, was built in 1880, paid for by the rail
company and workers.
Tebay’s image has not recovered from the reputation
it gained in those times, which is hard to do when guidewriters persist in repeating old opinions, such as this one,
from Clement Jones’s A Tour in Westmorland (1948):
“The traveller … is apt to think - and how rightly - of
Tebay as a grim and grimy railway junction blackened
with the smoke of many locomotives and consisting
mainly of the ugly dwellings of workmen employed on
the railway.”
Today things are different. The Newbiggin branch
line closed in 1962, Tebay station was demolished in
1970, and the Junction Hotel is no longer a hotel. The
terraces are painted in multi-coloured pastel shades and,
below the green hills on a sunny day, present a handsome,
At its peak, the Loyne railway network consisted of eight
lines, plus lines out of Loyne to places such as Carlisle,
Kirkby Stephen, Skipton, Preston, Morecambe and
Windermere:
Tebay – Lancaster (1846-)
Wennington – Lancaster (1849-1966)
Clapham – Wennington (1850-)
Newbiggin-on-Lune – Tebay (1861-1962)
Lowgill – Clapham (1861-1964)
Wennington – Carnforth (1867-)
Settle – Carlisle (1876-)
Lancaster – Glasson (1883-1930).
We will encounter these lines, derelict or alive, many
times on our journey and some general comments are in
order, not on the details that railway enthusiasts are fond of
but on the railways’ impact on Loyne.
The building of the railways brought welcome
employment but they generally harmed local industry.
This was almost entirely small-scale activity to meet local
needs, such as basket-making, pottery, quarrying and coal
mining. It became easier and cheaper to import coal from
where it was plentiful, and while new markets were opened
up for local products they could not compete in terms of
price or quality with the outputs from the rapidly-growing
industrial towns. Consequently there was an exodus from
the villages to those towns.
The railways affected local transport. It was much
cheaper to send beef by train than by hoof. Therefore,
the drove roads fell into disuse, along with the associated
activities en route. Otherwise, most country tracks, used on
foot or on horse, were not much affected until the advent
of the car.
Scenically, the railways have now merged into the
countryside and are fondly regarded. Derelict lines are often
unnoticeable, except for structures such as the Lowgill
Viaduct and Waterside Viaduct, which still impress us.
They must have been awesome in the 19th century.
if not pretty, sight. But Tebay cannot fully escape the
impact of its location in a traffic corridor. There is an
ever-present hum or roar, depending which way the
wind is blowing, from the motorway, broken frequently
by the rattle of the London-Glasgow expresses.
Beyond the motorway the Lune passes a mound that
when glimpsed by motorway drivers might be assumed
to be the remains of a slagheap. It is in reality what’s left
of the motte of a Norman motte and bailey castle, now
called Castle Howe. Such castles consisted of an artificial
mound (the motte), with a wooden or stone building on
top, and a larger enclosed yard (the bailey) containing
stables, workshops, kitchens and perhaps a chapel. The
earth from ditches around the motte and bailey was used
to create the motte.
Castle Howe is the first of ten such remains that we
will meet on our journey. The castles were built soon
after the Norman Conquest to provide security against
rebellious northerners. It seems that Loyne’s locals were
not as obstreperous as elsewhere because its castles were
at the smaller end of the scale of over five hundred such
castles built in England. Mottes are typically from 3m to
30m high, with Loyne’s being nearer the lower end of
the range. Also, there are no remains of stone buildings
on any of Loyne’s mottes, indicating that the more
vulnerable wood was considered adequate.
The Loyne castles were probably for the strategic
and administrative use of landlords rather than for
military garrisons. They were built overlooking river
valleys and close to fertile meadows. Castle Howe is
the closest to the river itself and has lost half its motte
to flood erosion. The motorway at least has swerved to
avoid it, if only just. By Castle Howe the Lune, flowing
west, meets Birk Beck, flowing east.
Left: A Tebay terrace.
CHAPTER 2:
Shap Fells and
Birkbeck Fells
A6
32 Chapter 2: Shap Fells and Birkbeck Fells
M6
Great
Yarlside
B
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Scout Green
▲ Crag Hill
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the
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White Howe ▲
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Lord’s Seat
▲
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▲ Whinash
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Roundthwaite• S
Jeffrey’s Mount ▲
Bo
rro
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Be
Whinfell Beacon ▲
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S
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5
River Lune
3
▲
Ashstead
Fell
Grayrigg Pike ▲
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
Birk Beck 33
B
Birk Beck
irk Beck arises in Wasdale, as Wasdale Beck,
below Great Yarlside, which at 598m and 14km
from the junction with the Lune is only a little
lower and nearer than Green Bell. The most prominent
feature of this region is the cliff face of Shap Pink Quarry,
the existence of which tells us that there are locally rare
and valued rocks. There is an exposure of ‘Shap granite’,
an igneous rock with, amongst many other minerals,
crystals of orthoclase feldspar (potassium aluminium
silicate) so large that they may be studied with the naked
eye. Large pink boulders can be seen in the surrounding
fields and, as we saw, some made their way to the stone
circle near Orton.
The Shap granite is an uprising of the granite that
underlies the Lake District. It is seen in the western
Lakes around, for example, the more famous Wasdale.
This prompts consideration of how our Wasdale relates
to the Lake District. The Shap Fells are officially part
of the Lake District National Park, the eastern border of
which is the A6, but lovers of Lakeland tend to ignore
them. For example, Wainwright’s classic seven volumes
on Lakeland include a volume on the Eastern Fells and
another on the Far Eastern Fells but still do not go far
enough east to include the Shap Fells.
He argued that the Lakeland fells are “romantic in
atmosphere, dramatic in appearance, colourful, craggy,
with swift-running sparkling streams” but that the Shap
Fells have a “quieter and more sombre attractiveness”.
But then Wainwright loved a scramble: anywhere where
it was possible to settle into a brisk walking rhythm was
usually described as dull or tedious. Rather ironically,
the fact that the Shap Fells are in the National Park is
now being used to try to extend the boundary yet further
eastwards to include similar terrain.
South of the granite intrusion, the Shap Fells
bedrock is of the Silurian slates and grits that underlie
the Howgills. Here, however, deep peat gives blanket
bog, with some heather moorland. The variety of upland
vegetation supports breeding waders (curlew, lapwing,
redshank, snipe) and raptors (peregrine falcon, merlin),
although not very many, as far as I have seen. There’s
also a herd of red deer.
The headwaters of Wasdale Beck run off the slopes
of Great Yarlside and Wasdale Pike, heading northeast
to meet Longfell Gill, which passes the brother quarry,
Shap Blue Quarry, which mines darker shades of granite.
Upper: Wasdale Beck below Shap Pink Quarry.
Lower: Sheep and ruin by Eskew Beck.
Two pages before: Upper Borrowdale from High
House Bank.
At the junction is Shap Wells Hotel, built in 1833 for
visitors, including royalty, to the nearby Shap Spa.
The beck, now called Birk Beck, passes Salterwath,
a farmstead that lends its name to Salterwath Limestone.
This first came from quarries 1km to the east, now
beyond the railway and motorway, and more recently
from Pickering Quarry 4km north. The limestone, which
is blue-grey when quarried and polishes to a brownish
shade, is a fine building and paving stone.
Below the 5m waterfall of Docker Force, Stakeley
Beck and Eskew Beck join Birk Beck off Birkbeck Fells,
a dull triangle of common land between the A6, M6 and
Bretherdale, heathery to the north and grassy to the south.
There’s a good path from Ewelock Bank to the highest
point, Crag Hill (400m), but the top is disappointing as
it is little higher than nearby hillocks, lower than the A6
and surrounded in all directions by higher fells. Still, it
provides reasonable views of those fells, especially the
Cross Fell range and the Howgills.
Birk Beck runs past the small, secluded communities
of Scout Green and Greenholme. It is hard to imagine
now that they once lay on the route of an important
drove road. Then, when there was no M6 or railway, it
would have been quiet enough to hear the approaching
clamour of a thousand cattle and accompanying
throng; at the villages, excitement would grow –
perhaps the visit coincided with a local market,
with a lively exchange of beasts; the drovers
would eat and drink (it was thirsty work); maybe
the cattle would be penned overnight; and then
the whole procession would move on to the next
stop a few miles along.
The drove roads were, of course, not roads
as we know them. They were wide tracks, often
on high ground, partly for the free grazing there
and partly to avoid the risk of ambush. A drover
was a person of prestige and responsibility.
The annual pilgrimage of cattle from Galloway
to the south for sale or for fattening in the
milder climate occurred for centuries before
the railways made the practice obsolete. The
drove roads were not restricted to cattle: they
became the standard route of passage for people
transporting other essentials of life, such as
wool, coal and salt.
Surviving drove roads are characterised by
their wide margins. The routes of the Galloway
Gate (the name of the drove roads between
Scotland and northwest England) through Loyne
can be traced by place names (e.g. Three Mile
House, reflecting the typical distance between
stops) and inn names (e.g. Black Bull, Drover’s
Arms). The Galloway Stone, a large Shap
granite boulder north of Salterwath, probably
had significance for drovers.
More recently, Scout Green and Greenholme
became known to railway enthusiasts as locations
Docker Force
to view trains struggling up from Tebay to Shap.
(Birk Beck may be only a tributary of the Lune but up to this
South of Greenholme, at Dorothy Bridge, Birk
point the Lune has been tame in comparison)
Beck is joined by Bretherdale Beck.
Bretherdale Beck 35
Bretherdale Beck
B
retherdale Beck runs between the A6 and M6 in the
valley of Bretherdale, which was quiet and ignored
until it came into the public limelight after a proposal to
erect 27 wind turbines, 115m high, in a 6km by 2km area
on its southern ridge. The proposal for what came to be
called the Whinash Wind Farm was eventually rejected
by the Secretary of State in 2006 because “the Whinash
site is an important and integral part of a far-reaching
landscape which is highly sensitive to change”.
The proposal for what would have become England’s
largest land-based set of wind turbines became a test
case for the conflict between protecting the landscape
and securing renewable energy. Many factors provoked
heated debates – too many to summarise here – but
one that, judging from the 127-page inspector’s report,
seems to have been decisive is that the wind turbines
would have impacted on views from the Lakes and Dales
National Parks, from Orton Fells, and from locations
further north. So, the views of Whinash were apparently
more important than the merits of Whinash itself.
It is difficult to argue for those merits: “People love
Bretherdale for its wild, open solitude” … “But nobody
ever goes there” … “But if they did they’d love the
solitude.” How bleak and empty does a region have to be
to be appreciated for that very bleakness and emptiness?
How much intrusion can an empty region absorb before
losing its emptiness? This is an argument not just for
Bretherdale: many parts of Loyne appeal because so few
people go there.
The proposers argued that the wind turbines would
increase the number of visitors to the area. The head of
onshore wind for the British Wind Energy Association
expressed incredulity that anyone should wish to visit
other than to see the turbines: “You’re not going to get
visitors within earshot of the M6 any other way. It’s
barren moorland. Why would people want to walk there
otherwise?”
The debate about Whinash was obfuscated by
opinions that the National Park boundaries might or would
soon change. In particular, some professed to believe
that the Birkbeck Fells, Bretherdale and Borrowdale
were about to become part of the Lake District National
Park – and of course it is unthinkable to have wind
turbines in the Lake District. At the moment, the Lake
District is ringed with wind turbines but there are none
within its boundaries. On the other hand, the proposal,
if approved, might have prevented the Birkbeck Fells
joining the Lake District or might have set a precedent
for further wind turbines in the Lake District.
A further issue was that all but three of the proposed
27 turbines would have been on common land, which
raised the question of possible interference with the
rights of commoners. Much of the higher land of Loyne
remains as traditional common land but its legal position
is muddled. All common land belongs to an owner (here
the Lowther Estate) not to the commoners. It is the
owner’s prerogative to make proposals about the land.
While the commoners argued that there would be a loss
of grazing rights the inspector did not agree with them.
In fact, he considered that the commoners would benefit
from easier access along the new tracks.
Among those who contributed to the debate were
long-established groups such as Friends of the Earth
and English Nature and newly created ones such as
Friends of Bretherdale. Bretherdale never knew it had
so many friends. The valley today has many abandoned
farmsteads, which visitors, if there are any, might find
charmingly derelict. But each of them was the home,
perhaps for centuries, of families that were forced, in
despair, to abandon their houses and their livelihoods.
Where were the friends when these families needed
them? Are a few wind turbines so much more important
than the ruination of people’s lives? Again, these are
questions not just for Bretherdale. Loyne is and always
has been predominantly rural and many communities
continue to struggle to find a role in the 21st century.
As far as Bretherdale is concerned, all is far from
lost. Although it may be too late for higher Bretherdale,
except perhaps some buildings of Bretherdale Head,
from Midwath Stead downstream there has been some
reinvigoration. For example, Bretherdale Hall has been
renovated despite uncertainty about the wind turbines.
Midwath Stead itself seems a lively group of homesteads,
with, according to its sign, “free range children”.
Overall, it is a pleasant, sheltered valley, with rocky
outcrops on the surrounding hills and an unobtrusive
conifer plantation with other natural woodlands.
Below Midwath Stead some of the fields are, like those
near Raisbeck, traditional unploughed meadows and
consequently rich in grasses, herbs and flowers.
After the Bretherdale Beck junction, Birk Beck
proceeds uneventfully for 2km past Low Scales farm
and under the three-arched Birkbeck Viaduct to join the
Lune.
The Lune from Birk Beck ... 37
The Lune Gorge from Great Coum, Grayrigg
A
The Lune from Birk Beck ...
t their junction Birk Beck and the Lune are much
the same size and if the matter hadn’t been preempted by the naming it might have been unclear
which was the tributary. They meet head on and as a
significant, placid river run south, heading for a narrow
gap, extravagantly called the Lune Gorge, between steep
hills. This gap is an obvious transport corridor, as the
Romans recognised with their road from Carlisle and
as the drovers appreciated in the Middle Ages. More
recently, the A685, the railway and the M6 motorway
have squeezed themselves into the gap but only after it
had been widened by blasting away the side of Jeffrey’s
Mount.
The lines of transport jostle the Lune for space.
Within 3km, the Lune is crossed nine times: four times by
the M6, twice by the railway, once by the A685 and twice
by footbridges. This is not the most soothing section of
the Lune. Visually, the Lune is pleasant, running over a
wide stony bed, bleached white in summer. Aurally, the
M6 dominates.
Sadly, there is no space left for National Cycle
Route 68 (the Pennine Cycleway), England’s longest
Left above: Derelict Parrocks in upper Bretherdale.
Left below: Lower Bretherdale, looking west.
The M6 motorway in the Lune Gorge cannot be ignored
so let us try to make a virtue of necessity: it is, after all, the
recipient of a Civic Trust award, the plaque (which was
in the A685 lay-by below Grayrigg Pike until removed
or stolen in 2008) saying “This award for an outstanding
contribution to the appearance of the Westmorland
landscape relates to the 36 miles of M6 Motorway between
the Lancaster and Penrith bypasses”. This contribution will
not be appreciated at the level of the Lune. Distance lends
enchantment and you really need to view the M6 from
Grayrigg Pike, Blease Fell, Linghaw or even further away.
The A6 route via Shap, reaching 424m, was notorious
for its bad visibility and winter conditions. The 1962 report
on the proposed Lancaster-Penrith M6 route whittled the
possibilities down to three: the A6, the Lune Valley, and
the Killington routes. Of the two Lune Gorge routes, the
Killington route was preferred to the Lune Valley (phew!),
although a cost-benefit analysis found the A6 route better
than both. The Killington route was selected because of the
A6 weather problems and because the necessary tunnels
would have “placed restrictions on the movement of
dangerous goods” (?).
So Killington it was. The design and engineering
problems were immense. The A685 was re-aligned; long
constant gradients were designed, reaching a maximum
height of 315m; 77 bridges were needed (plus three for
the A685) – and all intended to blend into the landscape.
Construction began in 1967 and the motorway opened in
October 1970. By now millions of travellers on the M6
have admired the Howgills, but how many of the few of us
on the Howgills have admired the M6?
leisure cycle route, which was opened in 2003 and runs
for 570km between Derby and Berwick-on-Tweed.
Within Loyne it runs from Orton to Sedbergh, through
Dentdale, and on to Ingleton and Clapham. Here it is
forced to share 1km with the A685. The cycleway is
described as 20% traffic-free trails and 80% quiet lanes
and minor roads. The A685 is neither.
Lune’s Bridge
The Lune is joined from the west by Roundthwaite
Beck, which runs from Roundthwaite Common. The
beck passes Roundthwaite Farm, which is the home of
the Lunesdale fell ponies, about forty of which browse
the fells between Bretherdale and Borrowdale. The
Lunesdale ponies have roamed the common since the
stud was established in 1958 and have become known
as a prize-winning breed. For example,
in 2008 Lunesdale Lady Rebecca was
Supreme Champion at the Fell Pony
Society Breed Show.
Fell ponies are hardy, strong,
active, versatile, stubby, sure-footed
horses, usually black but sometimes
grey, brown or bay. They are on the fells
all year. The fell pony originated on the
moors of northwest England and is one
of nine native breeds in Britain. It was
used as a draught animal and packhorse
since Roman times and was the main
form of transport during the Border
conflicts. The passing of these roles led
to a severe decline in numbers, only
arrested recently by its popularity for
leisure and competitive riding, although
it is really a working breed. The fell
pony is still listed as endangered by the
Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
Tucked between the M6, railway
and A685 bridges is the first distinctive
bridge across the Lune, Lune’s Bridge.
A document of 1379 refers to a
“Lonesbrig” here but the present bridge
is of the 17th century or later. This
attractive bridge is perched across rocks
where the Lune narrows. There are two
arches, the smaller one so high that the
Lune can surely never reach it. Today,
the bridge leads to a memorial stone for
four rail track workers who were killed
near here in 2004 by a runaway trailer
from Scout Green.
The Lune runs through a calm,
open section that once was a quiet
haven between steep hills, and is joined
from the west by the sizable tributary of
Borrow Beck.
The Lune from Birk Beck ... 39
The Lune below Jeffrey’s Mount
Walk 3: Roundthwaite Common and Bretherdale
Map: OL19 and OL7 (please read the general note about the walks in the Introduction).
Starting point: Roundthwaite, where the bridleway to Borrowdale swings southwest (609033).
This is a walk over the area that might have been sacrificed for the Whinash Wind Farm. Follow the bridleway southwest
and immediately after the gate, take the path half left directly up the slope to Jeffrey’s Mount. Continue beyond the small pile of
stones at the top for a little way in order to rest while watching the busy motorway traffic far below.
When you are ready, head west along the ridge over half a dozen gentle rises, including Casterfell Hill, Belt Howe,
Winterscleugh and the highest point, Whinash (471m). In places there is a path but it doesn’t matter much as there are no fences
and it is easy going on grass, with good views into Borrowdale. Almost certainly, Lunesdale fell ponies will be seen on the
common.
When you reach Breasthigh Road, an ancient, deeply grooved track over the ridge, follow it to the right. At Bretherdale
Beck you might like to detour north briefly to see the derelict Bretherdale Head. Follow the quiet road to picturesque Midwath
Stead, with its small bridge.
Continue along the road (very little traffic) past Bretherdale Hall, and then take the footpath through Bretherdale Foot and
Dyke Farm (where the owner assured me that there will soon be signs to help you locate the path) to Pikestone Lane. Turn right
on the lane and walk for 2km to Roundthwaite.
Short walk variation: Between Belt Howe and Breasthigh Road there is no way off the fell to the north and so the only short walk
possible is to follow the long walk up Jeffrey’s Mount to Belt Howe and then take the bridleway back to Roundthwaite. If this
walk is a little on the short side for you, you could continue on the CRoW land over Roundthwaite Common as far as you wish
and perhaps drop down to the bridleway via the Blea Gill waterfalls.
Borrow Beck
B
orrow Beck runs for 10km east from between
High House Fell and Bannisdale Fell through
Borrowdale, the most beautiful valley in Loyne despite
being split in two by the A6. Upper Borrowdale is within
the Lake District National Park and has some of the
character of Lakeland valleys. Unfortunately, there is
no footpath in upper Borrowdale, which therefore can
only be appreciated by walking the long, grassy ridges
on either side.
Just below High Borrow Bridge, Crookdale Beck
joins Borrow Beck. This junction illustrates the difficulty
of determining the source of a watercourse. Upper and
lower Borrowdale are aligned so well that it seems
obvious that the same beck, Borrow Beck, flows through
them both. But Crookdale Beck has a much higher and
more distant source, below Harrop Pike (637m), than
Borrow Beck and at the junction ought to be regarded as
the senior partner.
Perhaps aesthetics play a part because Crookdale
is such a dreary valley that no beck would want to be
born there. There are twelve million visits to the Lake
District National Park each year and approximately none
of them involve an outing to Crookdale. Above Hause
Foot, there is little of interest to a visitor not fascinated
by varieties of grass and herb, only the modest crags of
Great Yarlside breaking the monotonous, peaty slopes.
Hause Foot is on the turnpike route before the A6
was built in the 1820s. A steep curve up the northern
slope can be traced, reaching 440m, with the route
continuing north over Packhorse Hill and south to High
Borrow Bridge. This route played a key part in the 1745
incursion of Bonnie Prince Charlie. When his army
began to retreat, bridges such as High Borrow Bridge
were demolished ahead of it to hamper its struggle over
the Shap summit, after which the Scottish army was
defeated in its last battle on English soil.
In a lay-by on the A6 there is a memorial to drivers
over the A6 Shap summit, but the A6 is far from forgotten
and unused today. There is no memorial to the souls
Right: Borrowdale Head from High House Bank.
Walk 4: Upper Borrowdale, Crookdale and Wasdale
Starting point: A lay-by at the A6 summit (554062).
As we have Loyne becks from the Lake District, we must have a walk within the Lake District! This is a long, arduous,
isolated walk over grassy and sometimes boggy ridges.
Go west through a gate and under two lines of pylons to reach the old turnpike route. Go south through two gates and at the
third follow the wall down to Crookdale Beck. Cross it and head up High House Bank. At a small cairn there’s a good view into
Borrowdale.
Follow the ridge west. A faint path becomes clearer after Robin Hood, where a good cairn marks another viewpoint. Continue
to Lord’s Seat. Sadly, there is no sight from here of the fine cairn on Harrop Pike to inspire you, but make your way northwest
around crags and peat-mounds (there is no path). Keep well to the left so that you can use the fence to guide you to the top.
After all this effort, the view of the Lakeland hills is disappointing. Only Black Combe, the Coniston range, and a glimpse of
Harter Fell and High Street can be seen beyond the nearer hills. There’s also a view into Mosedale and Sleddale, where you may
be lucky to see red deer. No lakes can be seen apart from a bit of Wet Sleddale Reservoir to the northeast. The view eastwards is
better: a panorama from Morecambe Bay to Cross Fell, with the Howgills prominent.
From Harrop Pike, follow the fence east to Great Yarlside (easy walking here). At the junction follow the fence left, not the
wall right. Follow the right fence at the next junction. After a short while, a plantation comes into view half right. Make a beeline
(no path) across Wasdale, with Shap Pink Quarry to your left, to the right hand corner of the plantation and then across the field
to the lay-by.
The reward for this walk is that you can afterwards boast to Lake District fans that you did Borrowdale and Wasdale in one
day.
Short walk variation: It is possible to have a shorter walk but not really a short walk, once you embark on Crookdale. You could
forgo the pleasure of reaching Harrop Pike by contouring round from Lord’s Seat to Great Yarlside – but don’t cut directly across
Crookdale, as it’s a bog. From Great Yarlside, you could avoid walking in Wasdale by following the wall over Little Yarlside.
Borrow Beck 41
The wall from Great Yarlside to Little Yarlside
who tackled the turnpike route. It too is not unused as it
forms part of the 82km Kendal to Carlisle Miller’s Way
footpath, opened in 2006.
Below High Borrow Bridge, Borrow Beck enters
lower Borrowdale, a serene valley enclosed by steep,
grassy slopes, with occasional rocky outcrops, the
ridges on both sides undulating over a series of gentle
summits reaching almost 500m. The farmstead of High
Borrowdale was derelict for many years until bought in
2002 by the Friends of the Lake District, perhaps as a
ploy to help prevent the building of wind turbines on
Whinash. Many saplings have been planted beside the
beck and the barns have been restored but the farmstead
itself remains a ruin, now tidy rather than derelict.
Low Borrowdale continues to farm the lower valley
in splendid isolation although it was sold in 2008 to
Natural Retreats, a Manchester-based company that
aims to build luxury holiday ‘eco-parks’ alongside all
fourteen national parks. To nobody’s surprise, a planning
application duly followed: to build 29 timber lodges and
7 holiday cottages. This would, of course, disturb the
serenity of the dale, although Natural Retreats naturally
claims otherwise. The application, which is opposed by
the neighbours, the Friends of the Lake District, was
rejected by Eden District Council in 2009, which, it is to
be hoped, should be the end of the matter.
It is a merciful mystery that Borrowdale has escaped
significant change for so long. The Romans and the
drovers did not find use for an east-west path through
Borrowdale but it is surprising that a road joining the Lune
valley and the A6 was never contemplated. Although the
planners’ suggestion that Borrowdale become a reservoir
and the recent Whinash Wind Farm proposal were both
thwarted, the southern ridge, Whinfell, has been less
successful in avoiding modern intrusions. Historically,
Whinfell had a beacon to warn of Scottish invasions and
it is perhaps to be expected that the ridge should now
be adorned with its 21st century equivalents, a repeater
station and aerial. I actually rather like them. Not in
themselves attractive, they enhance their surroundings
(rather like Marilyn Monroe’s beauty spot).
Right: Lower Borrowdale, above the farm of Low
Borrowdale.
Walk 5: Lower Borrowdale
Map: OL19 and OL7 (please read the general note about the walks in the Introduction).
Starting point: Where a side-road leaves the A685 for Borrowdale (607014).
Walk west along the road that skirts Borrowdale Wood until it becomes a track and after a further 0.5km (at 594014) take a
path leading south up through a sparse, old woodland. Eventually, views into Borrowdale open out and the repeater station, with
the aerial to the left, comes into view.
From the repeater station, walk to Whinfell Beacon (good view over Kendal), Castle Fell, Mabbin Crag and Ashstead Fell.
The cairns on the peaks can be seen ahead and the footpath is clear except for a short section in the plantation below Mabbin Crag.
From Ashstead Fell, drop down towards the A6 and take the path northeast to Borrow Beck. Walk east on the south bank for 2km
and cross the bridge leading to High and Low Borrowdale. Continue back by Borrowdale Wood.
Those of boundless energy may extend the walk into a ridge horseshoe by walking up Breasthigh Road (by fording Borrow
Beck or, if that is not possible, crossing it at Huck’s Bridge) to the ridge above Borrowdale Edge, dropping down the bridleway
to Low Borrowdale.
Walks may equally well start at the A6 end, where there are two lay-bys close by Huck’s Bridge.
Short walk variation: Any walk along the length of the Whinfell ridge cannot be considered a short walk. Shorter walks than
the above can be devised by noting carefully the positions of the two bridges, the plantations and the other footpath (from
Roundthwaite) into the valley, and the extent of CRoW land. There are crags on the valley slopes but, if necessary, they can be
negotiated with care. The best and least risky route is to follow the long walk as far as Whinfell Beacon, to proceed to the wall
gate on the way to Castle Fell, and then to turn right to Shooter Howe. A modest scramble will bring you down to Borrow Beck,
which you then follow east.
Whinfell aerial and repeater station
CHAPTER 3:
Western Howgills
and Firbank Fell
46 Chapter 3: Western Howgills and Firbank Fell
* Roman fort
Low Borrowbridge •
R
Grayrigg Pike ▲
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ive
Carlin
Uldale
Head
▲
gill Beck
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▲ Bram Rigg Top
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Lowgill
Viaduct
M
▲ The Calf
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Beck • *
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• Grayrigg
▲ Bush Howe
aite
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Cap
Firbank •
▲ Calders
• Howgill
▲ Arant Haw
* Fox’s
Pulpit
▲ Winder
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lk 7
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the
A684
Riv
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Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Lune from Borrow Beck ... 47
J
The Lune from Borrow Beck ...
ust beyond the Borrow Beck junction at Low
Borrowbridge there is a flat, green field that seen
from the fells on either side looks like a sports arena,
which in a way it was because until the late 19th century
a large sheep fair used to be held here, with associated
sports and other activities. But long before that, from the
1st to the 4th century, this was the site of a Roman fort.
Somehow this fact became forgotten, despite the
reminder of Borrow (or burgh) Beck, until it was rediscovered in the early 19th century. This is especially
surprising since the site has been relatively undisturbed
by later building. The fort measures 130m by 100m,
adequate for five hundred soldiers. It lies on the CarlisleChester route and is the first of three sites of Roman
forts that we will meet. Excavations in the 20th century
have confirmed the layout of the fort but seem to have
uncovered few remains. More has been found at the
cemetery to the south, including a tombstone with the
touching inscription (not in English, of course): “Gods
of the underworld, Aelia Sentica lived for 35 years.
Aurelius Verulus erected this stone for his loving wife”.
Although the outline of the fort is clear, there is not much
to see on the ground, only ramparts along the line of the
old walls and on the west side a few ditches. Some claim
that, ignoring the railway, motorway and A685 (quite a
feat), the line of an aqueduct can be made out running
towards the fort from the slopes below Grayrigg Pike.
Grayrigg Pike is seen by many but noticed by few.
The steep crags and slopes around Great Coum and
Little Coum make them the most scenic cliffs we have
met so far but the rebounding noise of M6 traffic lessens
their appeal to walkers.
The Lune passes under Salterwath Bridge. We have
met a few ‘wath’s already and, as you might suspect, it
is an old word (Viking, in fact) for a ford. The bridge
itself was last rebuilt in 1824. At about this point, the
drove road that followed the Lune from Greenholme
swung west to skirt Grayrigg and climbed to the Lune
watershed, which it more or less followed south to
Kirkby Lonsdale.
Beyond Low Carlingill farm, the Lune meets the
most dramatic beck of the Howgills, Carlingill Beck.
Two pages before: Chapel Beck, looking towards
Bush Howe.
Below: Low Borrowbridge.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park occupies some
1760 sq km and is the third largest of Britain’s fourteen
National Parks. The part we encounter in the Howgills is
uncharacteristic of the Dales, which are normally pictured
in terms of spectacular limestone scenery. The Yorkshire
Dales are no longer all in Yorkshire: the Howgills,
Dentdale and Garsdale are in Cumbria. (Some diehards,
usually Yorkshiremen, consider that the 1974 boundaries
defined new administrative regions and had nothing to do
with the traditional counties. The fact that the new regions
were also called counties and that many of them used old
county names was unfortunate but irrelevant. On that basis,
the southern Howgills, Dentdale and Garsdale continue to
be in (the traditional county of) Yorkshire and are also in
(the new administrative region of) Cumbria.)
As we will see, only a few of the Dales lie within Loyne
– Dentdale, Garsdale, Kingsdale and Chapel-le-Dale. The
Lune is the western border for 12km and Lunesdale is not
sensibly regarded as one of the Yorkshire Dales.
Like all British National Parks, the Yorkshire Dales
National Park is not state-owned but consists of privately
owned estates and farms administered by an authority
responsible for conservation and recreation. It is therefore
both a tourist attraction and a working area, which even
includes some large quarries.
Carlingill Beck
C
arlingill Beck and the River Lune mark the
northwestern boundary of the Yorkshire Dales
National Park. Today this seems anomalous. A boundary
has to be somewhere but there seems no discernible
reason for it to include the southern part of the Howgills
but to exclude the northern part, as they are the same
in terms of geology and scenery. The boundary is here
simply because the old Westmorland-Yorkshire county
border lay along Carlingill Beck at the time the National
Park was established in 1954.
Carlingill Beck is an excellent site for students of
fluvial geomorphology (that is, of how flowing water
affects the land), providing some good illustrations of
post-glacial erosion. The beck arises as Great Ulgill
Beck below Wind Scarth and Breaks Head, on a
ridge that runs from The Calf, and then curves west at
Blakethwaite Bottom, a sheltered upland meadow below
Uldale Head. It enters an increasingly narrow gorge,
with contorted rock formations exposed on the southern
side, giving us our first real view of the Silurian slate
of the Howgills. The beck then forms The Spout, which
is as much a water shoot as a waterfall, as it tumbles
steeply over 10m of tilted rocks. To the north are
steep screes and further exposed contorted rocks
and below to the south looms the deep, dark gash
formed by Little Ulgill Beck.
Here is Black Force, the most spectacular
scene of the Howgills: not one force but a series
of cascades, deep within a V-shaped ravine that
has remarkable rock formations exposed on its
western side. Our journey through the northern
Howgills showed us little to hint at the striking
degree of erosion hidden within this gill.
Beyond admiring the awesome sights, we
might wonder about causes and effects. The
benign, smooth slopes of the Howgills do not
suggest the convulsions needed to form the
contorted rocks seen by Carlingill Beck. Are
these contortions limited to Carlingill Beck, or
Left: Upper Carlingill Beck, with The Spout
middle right.
Right: Black Force (the scale may be judged
by the two walkers and a dog on the path
top right - you can’t see them? - precisely).
The exposed rocks on the western slopes of Black Force, with Carlin Gill and Grayrigg beyond
are there similar rock formations hidden elsewhere? If
the latter, why have they been so dramatically exposed
only here, in such deep gullies, from such relatively
small becks? Or did the contortions cause weaknesses
that the becks have exploited?
Below Black Force, Carlingill Beck begins to
calm down. It still runs in a narrow valley, with small
waterfalls and eroded sides, but, as becks tend to do,
it eventually levels off and opens out. The lower parts
of Carlingill Beck and its tributaries, especially Grains
Gill, still show fine examples of post-glacial erosion,
in the form of deep gullies, alluvial fans and cones.
The relative absence of human and animal disturbance
and the frequency of heavy flooding enable the study
of hillside erosion, the changes of flow directions, and
the dynamics of debris flow and deposition. Even to the
non-expert, the scenes provide remarkable evidence of
the continuing impact of erosive forces.
The beck passes under the old Carlingill Bridge.
Being on a county border is a problem for any selfrespecting bridge: in 1780, when Carlingill Bridge
was dilapidated, Westmorland quarter sessions ordered
a contract to rebuild half of it. Happily, the bridge
is now all in Cumbria. Unhappily, it was still in need
of repair when I last visited. There is a final burst of
energy as Carlingill Beck runs through the narrow gorge
of Lummers Gill to enter the Lune but, under normal
conditions, it still seems far too demure to have caused
the effects seen upstream.
Any walkers who have strolled in Bowderdale and
Langdale and are wondering about an outing along
Carlingill Beck should be warned that this is a more
serious undertaking. Walking by the beck itself involves
a fair amount of rough scrambling and, if the beck is
high, may be impossible. Black Force cannot be walked
up, although it is possible to clamber up the grassy slope
to the east. The path to The Spout is increasingly difficult
and it likewise becomes impassable, although there is
a challenging escape to the north. The public footpath
from the south past Linghaw, which can be continued to
Blakethwaite Bottom, provides no view into the Black
Force ravine.
The Lune from Carlingill Beck ... 51
The Lune from Carlingill Beck ...
A
ccording to a generally accepted theory, long
ago the Lune used to begin about here. It is
believed that the Lune was then formed from the
becks that drain south from the Howgills, with
all the becks we’ve met up to now (Bowderdale
Beck, Langdale Beck, Borrow Beck, and so
on) at that time flowing north within the Eden
catchment area. The Lune watershed was then
south of what is now the Lune Gorge. In time,
the headwaters of the Lune eroded northwards to
capture Borrow Beck and then all the other becks
to divert their flow southward. The evidence for
this is complicated, involving the ‘open cols’ to
the north through which no water now flows,
or much less water than the size of the valleys
would suggest; the fact that the flow of the
northern becks is discordant to the underlying
rocks; and the history of geological uplifts and
tilts. The more recent glaciation has obscured
most of this evidence for the untutored eye.
Above the Lune is Gibbet Hill, where the
bodies of miscreants were displayed and where
alleged eerie noises are now drowned by the M6.
The small road to the east of the Lune, Fairmile
Road, is along the line of the Roman road that
led south from Low Borrowbridge. A part of the
Roman road that diverges from the present road
was investigated in 1962. At Fairmile Gate, the
road crosses Fairmile Beck, which runs from the
hills by Fell Head and Linghaw, which are good
vantage points for the Lune valley. Fell Head is
one of the more identifiable hills of the Howgills,
having a covering of heather and hence a dark
appearance.
The Lune reaches the Crook of Lune Bridge,
which is the quirkiest of all the Lune bridges. It
is a sturdy yet graceful 16th century construction,
with two 10m arches and a width of about 2m.
Being a little upstream of the two lanes that
drop down to it, it makes a tricky manoeuvre for
vehicles. It’s as though the 16th century builders
wanted to ensure that no 21st century juggernaut
could cross.
At the bridge we meet the Dales Way at
exactly the point that it leaves (or enters) the
Dales. The Dales Way is a 125km footpath
Sheep below Fell Head
Fell pony and the River Lune from Linghaw
Crook of Lune Bridge
between Ilkley and Bowness-on-Windermere, passing
through many of the most attractive dales, especially, if
I may say so, this stretch of the Lune.
Just beyond the bridge, Lummer Gill joins the
Lune, having run from Grayrigg Common, through
Deep Gill, under the motorway and railway (where,
thankfully, they veer away from the Lune valley), past
the village of Beck Foot and then under the magnificent
curved Lowgill Viaduct. The eleven red arches stand
30m high and seem so thin as to be flimsy but for over
a hundred years (1861 to 1964) they carried trains on
the Lowgill-Clapham line, a central part of the Loyne
railway network. A failure of railway politics meant
that it was never used as originally intended, that is, for
Ingleton to Scotland traffic – until the winter of 1963
blocked the Settle-Carlisle line. Thanks to the work of
the British Railways Board (Residuary) Ltd in 2009 the
viaduct is no longer the aerial arboretum it had become,
with shrubs and trees sprouting from the track.
The Lune accompanies the Dales Way for 2.5km.
This is a gentle, bubbling stream in summer, but a
torrent after heavy rain on the Howgills. Debris in the
tree branches shows that the floodplains are indeed
occasionally under water.
This is a good stretch along which to spot the
dipper, the bird that best represents the spirit of the
becks. It is the only passerine (that is, perching bird) that
is adapted to aquatic life, in being able to close its ears
and nostrils under water, having no air sacs in its bones,
and in being able to store more oxygen in its blood
than other passerines. It uses its wings to swim under
turbulent water in its search for insect larvae. It will be
seen bobbing on a rock or flying fast and direct, low over
the water.
The presence of dippers along any beck is a measure
of the health of that beck. Sadly, the number of dippers
seems to be declining along the Lune and its tributaries,
probably because of the damage to riverbanks, where it
nests, and the building of weirs for flood control, which
reduces the turbulence that dippers need.
Ellergill Beck, running from Brown Moor past
Beck House, and the more substantial Chapel Beck
next supplement the Lune. Chapel Beck is the largest
beck of the western Howgills. The western slopes below
Arant Haw, Calders, Bram Rigg Top, The Calf, White
Fell Head and Breaks Head all contribute to it. Its slopes
also have two of the clearest paths in the Howgills, on
either side of Calf Beck, providing an excellent walk
to The Calf. On this walk you would see the Horse of
Bush Howe. This is a natural (it seems to me) rocky
outcrop in the vague shape of a horse, although there are
stories that in the past people devoted a day each year to
keeping the horse in shape. (The horse can be seen in the
photograph on page 45: it is bisected by the shadow on
the hill middle right.) One legend is that it was created
as a signal for smugglers in Morecambe Bay. One can
The Top 10 birds in Loyne
1. Dipper: for its spirit
2. Curlew: for its call
3. Lapwing: for its flight
4. Kingfisher: for its colour
5. Skylark: for its song
6. Oystercatcher: for its bill
7. Heron: for its style
8. Hen harrier: for its rarity
9. Sand martin: for its nest
10. Swan: for its grace
Honourable mention: the snipe.
Lowgill Viaduct
only smile at the misguided attempts to add a touch of
glamour to the Howgills, and move on.
After Castley Wood, Chapel Beck passes through
what is, if anywhere is, the centre of the scattered
parish of Howgill, which gives its name to the whole
area. The Holy Trinity Chapel, built in 1838, presents
an unreasonably pretty picture, with its narrow windows
and its neatly shaped bushes and with the old mill,
school and cottages nearby. Below the chapel we see an
example of the work of the Lune Rivers Trust.
The maturing Lune runs deep below grassy slopes,
passing under the Waterside Viaduct, which is notable
for being the highest bridge across the Lune, 30m above
the heads of walkers on the Dales Way. Like the Lowgill
Viaduct, the Waterside Viaduct used to carry the LowgillClapham railway and is a fine structure, although here the
seven arches are of irregular size and the middle section
is of metal. Both viaducts are Grade II listed structures
The Lune Rivers Trust (formerly the Lune Habitat Group)
was formed in 1997 to help protect watercourses, regenerate
habitats, and encourage the biodiversity of the Lune - and
its tributaries, for of course the Lune cannot be healthy if
its tributaries are not. The aim is to improve landscapes,
reduce erosion and safeguard water quality. The Trust is a
public charity aiming to develop coordinated programmes
of action involving farmers, land-owners, national parks,
government ministries, angling clubs, and anyone else with
a concerned interest in the Lune.
Some of the Lune’s problems are attributed to the
damage that sheep and cattle cause to riverbanks. Therefore,
as at Chapel Beck, the Trust has carried out a programme
of fencing and tree planting in order to stabilise the banks.
So far, some 60km of riverbank have been protected, to
benefit wildlife such as otters, water voles, kingfishers and
dippers, as well as fish populations. The Trust won the Best
Environmental award of the Lancashire Environmental
Fund in 2005 (although we are still in Cumbria here).
Looking towards Arant Haw and Brant Fell
Walk 6: Lowgill and Brown Moor
Starting point: The roadside verge by the railway before the road drops down to Beck Foot (610964).
This walk includes the best stretch of path beside the Lune and a taste of the Howgills, without going to the highest tops. The
initial noise of the motorway and railway perhaps adds to our appreciation of the serenity of the Lune valley.
Walk east to the B6257 (with Lowgill Viaduct directly ahead) and pass under the viaduct, noticing the packhorse bridge
dwarfed under it, to Crook of Lune Bridge. Immediately after the bridge, turn left, taking the path above Nether Fields Wood to
Brunt Sike. Then double back, walking across fields to Gate House.
Continue to Beck House and Beck Houses Gate, beyond which you are on the open fell. Walk up Brown Moor (412m) and
stop to admire the view, from Fell Head on the left to Brant Fell on the right. There’s a good view of the so-called Horse of Bush
Howe but better is the sight of the neatly interlacing ridges up the various valleys.
Walk south to Castley Knotts, drop down to the footpath, and follow it through Castley to Gate Side. Walk south on the road
and turn right after Chapel Beck, past the Holy Trinity Chapel, and take the track to Thwaite, where the path is rather hidden
behind the barn to the left. Continue towards Hole House but don’t go that far: at Smithy Beck drop down to the Lune. Now
you follow the Dales Way back to the Crook of Lune Bridge. Route finding is no problem, so you may concentrate on spotting
dippers, kingfishers, herons, and other riverside birds.
From the bridge you could return the way you came or, trusting the OS map (for there is no signpost), turn right across fields
to Nether House, which although marked on the map is just a small pile of rubble. Walk up its old drive and detour right along the
road for 400m to view the neat, red Railway Terrace. Return past Lowgill Farm, turn left on the B6257 and right through Beck
Foot back to the starting point and the noise of modern transport.
Short walk variation: For a short walk I’d suggest heading straight for Brown Moor and back via Castley Knotts. So, walk over
the Crook of Lune Bridge, east for 1km, turn left through Riddings, on to Gate House, then up to Brown Moor and Castley
Knotts, and back west past Castley and Cookson’s Tenement and on 3km to the starting point.
Holy Trinity Chapel, Howgill
and, like the Lowgill Viaduct, the Waterside Viaduct has
recently been renovated.
The Lune accepts the tributary of Crosdale Beck,
which runs off the slopes of Arant Haw, and moves
towards the 17th century Lincoln’s Inn Bridge. Sadly,
Mr Lincoln and his inn are no longer with us, and some
might wish the same of the bridge, as it makes a narrow,
awkward turn on the busy A684. Like most bridges, it
forms a better impression from the riverside.
Here we detect some pride in being next to the Lune,
for as well as the farm of Luneside there is, just along the
A684, a Vale of Lune Chapel, now called St Gregory’s.
This was built in the 1860s, whilst the railway line
was being constructed, and, judging from its unusual,
robust design, it may have been built by rail workers.
This supposition is perhaps supported by a comment
in a booklet about the chapel that it was designed to be
“a plain building of studied ugliness”. Would a proper
architect take on such a challenge?
Opposite Luneside, Capplethwaite Beck enters the
Lune.
Left: Waterside Viaduct.
Below: The stained glass windows of the Vale of
Lune chapel, which illustrate nature rather than
religious themes.
Capplethwaite Beck
C
applethwaite Beck and its tributary Priestfield Beck
run from Firbank Fell behind the ridge to the west
of the Waterside Viaduct. This unprepossessing moor
is known only for two things: Fox’s Pulpit and its
magnificent views of the Howgills.
From the plaque at Fox’s Pulpit there is a view
south along the Lune valley to the Ward’s Stone ridge
of Bowland Fells, 35km away. However, there is no
view of the Howgills, which is strange. One of the
Quaker beliefs, as noted in Fox’s journal, is that “the
steeplehouse and that ground on which it stood were
no more holy than that mountain”. Surely Fox would
have positioned himself about 200m east so that when
expressing such a sentiment he could gesture towards
the Howgills. That would convince anyone, and I could
even imagine listening to a three-hour sermon myself
Fox’s Pulpit marks one of the few events in Loyne to be
considered of national importance. Here on June 13th 1652
George Fox preached to one thousand people for three
hours, according to his own journal, an event nowadays
often regarded as establishing the Society of Friends (or
Quakers).
The Quaker movement has been particularly
influential in the Loyne region. No doubt the emphasis on
equality and on the spirituality within people, rather than
churches, rituals and sacraments, appealed to independent,
poor northerners.
The mid 17th century – Oliver Cromwell, Civil
Wars, and so on – was a fertile, if challenging, time for
non-conformist religious movements but Quakerism was
a social movement as well, because the promotion of
equality naturally upset the privileged, powerful members
of society who did not receive from Quakers the respect
or deference they expected. This partly explains the years
of persecution suffered by Quakers. Fox himself was
imprisoned seven times.
It also explains the large number of ‘meetinghouses’
that we will pass. Quakers did not build churches, as it
was against their beliefs and would have been asking for
trouble. To begin with, they met within one another’s
houses. In some Loyne valleys almost every farmstead
may be described as an old Quaker meetinghouse – that
is, an old farmstead within which Quakers met. After the
Restoration of the monarchy (1660), matters gradually
improved for Quakers but the laws under which they had
been persecuted were not ended until the 1689 Act of
Toleration.
The western Howgills from Dillicar
if I could look at the Howgills at the same time. There
is still a graveyard by Fox’s Pulpit but the church that
Fox disdained has left in a huff, demolished by a gale
in 1839.
Incidentally, given the Quakers’ views on the
established church, is it coincidence that the two
becks’ names (Capplethwaite (chapel-meadow?) and
Priestfield) should assert their religiosity?
The name of Firbank is in fact known for a third
reason, at least by Australians: Firbank Grammar School
is one of the leading private schools in Australia. Another
coincidence? No, it was established in 1909 by Henry
Lowther Clarke, archbishop of Australia, who was born
at New Field, Firbank, 1 km south of Fox’s Pulpit.
The footpaths of Loyne pass through many hundreds
of farmsteads. I have found (with but one exception,
which I prefer not to dwell upon) that residents welcome,
or at least accept or are resigned to, strangers wandering
through their yards. I have also found an extraordinary
range of objects within these yards, showing that many
farmsteads are no longer farming or have needed to
diversify in order to supplement their farming income,
which is indicative of the continually evolving rural
character of Loyne. For example, at Shacklabank, 2km
south of Fox’s Pulpit, there is a gypsy caravan in the
yard (actually, I recall a set of them but the website says
that there is only one: I will have to return and count
them or it). This provides accommodation for visitors on
“free range walking holidays” or who consider mucking
in on the farm a holiday. This development received a
Cumbria Tourism Award in 2008.
Capplethwaite Beck runs past the 16th century
Capplethwaite Hall, which was the home of the Morland
family, one of whom, Jacob, was painted in 1763 by
George Romney before he became so obsessed with
Emma (later Lady) Hamilton that he painted her sixty
times. This portrait is now in the Tate Britain gallery,
and a grand figure he looks, although not as grand as the
Howgills behind, which unfortunately he is obscuring.
The Lune from Capplethwaite Beck ... 59
Walk 7: Fox’s Pulpit and the Waterside Viaduct
Starting point: Killington New Bridge (623908).
Walk south by the Lune to Bowersike and take the track up to Greenholme, where there’s a good view back to Winder,
Baugh Fell and Middleton Fell. Through Greenholme, follow the wall on the right that swings north. Across a small beck, the
track turns west towards a plantation where there’s a reassuring footpath sign. It’s quiet here, among the bracken and heather, but
from the corner of the plantation you see, a few kilometres away, reminders of the 21st century – Killington Service Station and
the Lambrigg wind turbines.
Beyond the plantation the path drops down to a white gate, where you turn right to another white gate, from which there
is a view of the Howgills from Winder to Fell Head. Note the prominent white building 2km ahead (New Field), which is your
next objective.
Cross the A684. There is no clear path on the CRoW land but make your way across to Ghyll Farm, which is on Capplethwaite
Beck. There seem to be no signposts at Ghyll Farm, so be careful to turn left off the drive, before a barn, heading north. After
500m you reach the white building you noted before.
From New Field, walk 1km along the road to Fox’s Pulpit. By now, you might appreciate that Fox did well to attract a
thousand people up here. Walk east across the CRoW land of Knotts and, when the view ahead is revealed, pause to relate the
panorama to your map – in particular, identify the large farm of Hole House, 1km northeast. Head in the general direction of Hole
House until you reach either a wall or a clear footpath running north-south (between Stocks and Whinny Haw). In the former
case, follow the wall to the right until the footpath is reached.
Walk to Stocks and continue on the road north but before Goodies turn right over the old railway line and cross the Lune
footbridge. Walk up by Smithy Beck to Hole House. You are now on the well sign-posted Dales Way. Follow this for 3km past
the Waterside Viaduct, Lincoln’s Inn Bridge and Luneside. Where the Dales Way turns left to The Oaks, turn right to the Lune,
which you follow back to Killington New Bridge.
Short walk variation: From the bridge, walk west, first on the road and then on a footpath, to Grassrigg. Walk south 200m to gain
the footpath that runs north above Grassrigg. Cross the A684 and take the path to Shacklabank. Walk north for 500m to take the
path that drops through Hawkrigg Wood, across the B6257, to Lincoln’s Inn Bridge. Follow the Dales Way south and where it
turns left to The Oaks, turn right to the Lune and back to Killington New Bridge.
The Lune from Capplethwaite Beck ...
P
addlers (in a canoe, that is) feel the adrenaline
rising as they and the Lune approach the next
section, which includes a narrow rapid called the Strid
that drops 2m into a large pool. This is the liveliest
part of the whole Lune, as it tumbles through and over
sloping rocks and into deep pools, and one of the most
challenging canoeing stretches in northwest England.
(An experienced outdoor instructor died here in 2007.)
It may be viewed from a footpath that leads north from
Killington New Bridge. The bridge has a single 18m
arch and is not new. A proposal to build holiday chalets
in the field southwest of the bridge would, if accepted,
enable many more visitors to enjoy, or spoil, the scenic
tranquillity of the region.
At the bridge there used to be a notice: “SAA No
canoeing”. I expect that SAA is the Sedbergh Angling
Association but I was unsure of the legal status of their
notice. The SAA presumably owns the banks and can
insist upon private fishing. Does it own the Lune too? Can
it prevent others using the Lune? Obviously, they would
prefer canoeists not to tangle their lines and disturb their
fish. Indeed, I would prefer canoeists not to disturb the
dippers, kingfishers, and other wildlife (and anglers not
to disturb salmon, come to that). Nevertheless, canoeists
do tackle the Lune and its tributaries, with or without
permission, and good luck to them. The notice was
replaced in 2008 to read “Private fishing SAA”, which
seems more reasonable.
Canoeists will, I imagine, be also concerned with
the dangerous-looking weir that follows at Broad Raine.
Further south, at Stangerthwaite, the public bridleway
and ford seem impenetrable, at least to horses and
vehicles. It used to link two tracks, one of which leads
up to Four Lane Ends, the other three old lanes now
forming the A683 and B6256.
After this turbulent stretch, the Lune swings west to
meet the largest tributary so far, the River Rawthey.
The Lune at Killington New Bridge (above) and Stangerthwaite (below)
CHAPTER 4:
Upper
Rawtheydale
62 Chapter 4: Upper Rawtheydale
Green Bell ▲
ide Beck
Backs
lly
Bec
k
8
Yarlside ▲
Sand Tarn
▲ Wild Boar Fell
S
Bluecaster
▲
edlehouse Gill
Ne
lk 9
wa
eck
Ecker Secker B
Arant Haw ▲
ai
te
S
Ha
▲ Swarth Fell
ll Gill
Gi
walk 10
ll
Grisedale
Be c k
Rawth
ey
thw
bble
He
er
Riv they
Raw
Clouds Gill
Sa
*
Cautley
Spout
The Calf ▲
lk
Randygill Top ▲
wa
Harter Fell
▲
A683
▲
Baugh Fell
A68
4
C lo
0
u gh
Riv
er
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
• Grisedale
• Garsdale Head
S
Garsdale
•
5 kilometres
The River Rawthey ... 63
L
The River Rawthey ...
ike the Lune, the Rawthey first flows north (as
Rawthey Gill off Baugh Fell) and then swings west
and south. Baugh Fell is the largest mountain of
Loyne, in terms of volume, that is, not height, occupying
the huge expanse of high ground between the A683, the
A684 and the Rawthey-Grisedale valley. It is one of the
least visited of the peaks of the Yorkshire Dales and
understandably so, because it is surrounded by many
more attractive challenges.
It is pudding-shaped, with the unappealing
characteristic, for a walker, of being relentlessly uphill
from whichever direction you tackle it and of having a top
that is always over the horizon. There is little of interest
above 400m. And when you reach the top, you cannot
be sure that you are there. The trig point at Knoutberry
Haw is, according to the OS map, 2m lower than the
unmarked, gentle summit at Tarn Rigg Hill (678m).
Some would say that Baugh Fell is pudding-textured
too but that is an exaggeration. Yes, it tends to be wet
and there are peat mounds to negotiate but there’s plenty
of grass and the top is a rough, stony plateau. Still, it is
one of those mountains best tackled when the ground
is frozen solid and there’s a layer of snow to hide the
desolation.
Baugh Fell is not the most exciting fell but it does
provide a magnificent view in all directions: circling
from the north Wild Boar Fell, Mallerstang, Great
Shunner Fell, Pen-y-Ghent, Pendle, Ingleborough,
Whernside, Great Coum, the Lakeland Peaks, and the
Howgills. The views of Whernside and Great Coum are
particularly striking. From other directions they appear
unremarkable but from here they have majestic profiles.
After 3km Rawthey Gill turns a left angle, becoming
the River Rawthey, to run through a limestone gorge
and over a series of waterfalls, one of which at least
deserves a distinctive name. Some call it Uldale Force
but Uldale seems to be the area north of Holmes Moss,
with Uldale Gill further north still. What’s wrong with
a simple Rawthey Force? Anyway, the 10m waterfall is
quite the equal of more illustrious waterfalls that we will
meet later.
Whin Stone Gill, Blea Gill and Needlehouse Gill
(which begins as Uldale Gill) join the Rawthey off the
western slopes of Swarth Fell, which is one of those
underrated hills that suffer by comparison with a near
neighbour (no, not Baugh Fell – Wild Boar Fell to the
north). At 681m, Swarth Fell is higher than the Howgills
and Baugh Fell and, with a flattish top and crags to
the east, has the characteristic shape of the peaks of
the Yorkshire Dales, although it is only half within the
National Park.
Swarth Fell also has the distinction of lying on the
‘national divide’ of England. From its southern ridge,
waters to the east flow (via the River Ure) to the North
Two pages before: From Fell End Clouds towards
Cautley Crag.
Below: From Baugh Fell over Rawthey Gill to the
Howgills.
Sea and waters to the west flow (via the Lune) to the
Irish Sea. The eastern boundary of Loyne forms the
national divide for about 8km, over Widdale Fell to
Great Knoutberry Hill and Wold Fell.
Needlehouse Gill runs in a narrow valley, over
waterfalls and past caves, by Needle House and
Uldale House, two of a line of farmsteads among the
small conifer plantations on the northern slopes of the
Rawthey. There are actually two rather fine houses at
Needle House and surely the only barn we’ll see with
a belfry. Uldale House farms 2500ha on Baugh Fell
Common and the farmer there, Harry Hutchinson, is
the chair of the Federation of Cumbrian Commoners,
formed in 2003 to help ensure that policy-makers
understand the importance and complexity of farming
on common land. Currently, there is concern that the
Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which pays farmers
to greatly reduce sheep numbers in order to enhance the
environment, will threaten the commons sheep grazing
tradition.
Rawthey Cave, in which have been found human
remains from about 1500 BC, is on the south bank of
the Rawthey, on the slopes of Bluecaster. The old track
across the flank of Bluecaster drops down to the river,
where, as you would expect, there used to be a bridge
– a bridge of some importance, it would seem, since in
1586 Queen Elizabeth wrote to those responsible for its
upkeep saying that “she marvels at their negligence in the
execution of her former orders concerning the rebuilding
of Rawthey Bridge.” Perhaps the word ‘execution’
spurred some action.
The old bridge is no more but there’s a fine newer
one 50m downstream, built in 1820 with a single semicircular arch. There’s a minor puzzle here. It is said that
two children’s faces were carved in the bridge. There
seems to be space for a rectangular display on the
two sides of the bridge but perhaps the displays have
fallen out. On the west side there is a face, but that of a
bewigged gentleman, it seems to me. On the east side,
there are what, if viewed generously, could be two eyes
and a nose. What it means, if anything, is a mystery.
Just below the bridge the nicely named Sally Beck
enters the Rawthey.
Above: According to the OS map, this is Joseph’s
House on Swarth Fell (Joseph wasn’t in when
I called).
Left: Rawthey (or Uldale) Force.
The River Rawthey ... 65
Above: Needle
House barn
(spot the dog).
Left: lower falls of
the Rawthey
near Needle
House.
Sally Beck
S
ally Beck arises 4km north in the fields above
Studfold. Under normal conditions, it receives
numerous becks flowing from Harter Fell on the west
but nothing at all from Fell End Clouds on the east.
This is because the Clouds are formed of limestone, into
which rainwater disappears.
The limestone does not really form terraces like we
saw on Orton Scar because it is too distorted. It occurs
as small cliffs and scattered, rocky outcrops. There are
two well-preserved limekilns, with evidence of old mine
workings, and in the middle of the Clouds there’s an
intriguing enclosed field containing the ruins of old walls
(shown on page 61). The Clouds have been made a Site
of Special Scientific Interest, mainly because of their
flora, which, because the Clouds are heavily grazed, is
largely restricted to the recesses of the grikes. There are,
for example, seventeen species of fern, including the rare
rigid buckler fern, holly fern, and green spleenwort.
Sally Beck 67
To the south of Fell End Clouds, Clouds Gill makes
a brave effort to cross the limestone to reach Sally Beck.
Most of the time it fails but sometimes, judging by the
erosion, it succeeds with a vengeance. It flows from
Sand Tarn, a perhaps unexpected oasis just below the
Wild Boar Fell trig point.
At 708m, Wild Boar Fell is the highest hill we have
met so far – and the most dramatic, although admittedly
most of the drama is on the eastern slopes, which are
within the Eden catchment area. The broader, western
slopes drain to the Lune, via the Rawthey.
Wild Boar Fell has a flat top, with many cairns.
Those on the eastern rim provide marvellous views
into Mallerstang and across to the hills of the Yorkshire
Dales. The trig point is on the western edge and provides
a unique viewpoint down onto the Howgills, giving a
wonderful impression of the rolling contours.
Wild Boar Fell is so called because the last English
wild boar fell here, or so it is said. In case you should
be sceptical, we are given a date and perpetrator for the
deed: 1396 and Sir Richard Musgrave of Hartley Castle.
If doubts still remain, then we’re told that his tomb in
Kirkby Stephen church was found to contain a boar’s
The Top 10 lakes in Loyne
(Are there 10 lakes in Loyne?)
1. Sand Tarn, Wild Boar Fell
2. Greensett Tarn, Whernside
3. Sunbiggin Tarn
4. Whernside Tarns (could count as four?)
5. West Baugh Fell Tarn (a good view, at least)
6. Kitmere (but can hardly see it)
7. East Tarns, Baugh Fell (another five or more?)
8. Terrybank Tarn
9. Island Pond, Quernmore
10. The Lake, Clapham Beck (but it’s artificial)
(Only just.)
tusk. But your clinching counter-argument is that there
are wild boars in England now.
As Clouds Gill passes the limestone it reaches an
appealing high-level road that was the original road but
is now a quiet by-way above the A683. It is open to the
fell, has wide grassy verges, and has a line of farmsteads
most of which are being revitalised as holiday homes.
Cold Keld, for example, offers guided walking holidays.
To the south is Fell End bunkhouse, which is owned by
Left: Sand Tarn, with Harter Fell (with its Five Gills) beyond, and beyond that Green Bell, with Randygill Top,
Kensgriff and Yarlside to the left, and with the Lake District hills in the distance.
Below: Wild Boar Fell trig point, looking towards Cautley Crag.
Icicles on the western slopes of Wild Boar Fell
the Bendrigg Trust, a charity offering outdoor activities
for disabled people. Foggy Hill, however, is a tractor
outlet, judging by the score or more shining new in the
yard. By the road there is a paddock with a signpost
announcing “Quaker Burial Ground”. It is completely
empty (on the surface). This takes the Quaker’s unfussy
approach to burial close to its logical conclusion, which
it would reach if the signpost were removed.
A farm name of Streetside and one further north of
Street Farm and the name of Bluecaster will provoke
speculation that this is the line of a Roman road. As far
as I know, there is no evidence on the ground for this, but
on the other hand it is certain that the Romans had major
and minor roads, as we do, and it would be surprising if
they did not take a short cut through Rawtheydale to get
between their forts at Brough and Over Burrow.
On the fell opposite there’s a rougher track that goes
up to Sprintgill and Murthwaite, home of the Murthwaite
fell ponies, except that, being semi-wild in the Howgills,
they hardly have a home. Their owner, Thomas Capstick,
is a renowned photographer of fell ponies.
As Sally Beck makes its way to the Rawthey we
might pause to reflect on the significance of what we
have seen on Baugh Fell, Swarth Fell and Wild Boar
Fell. The craggy tops differ from the rounded hills of the
Howgills. They are of millstone grit, below which is a
layer of shale and sandstone above a limestone base. The
limestone gives rise to caves and potholes, which are
absent from the Howgills. Clearly, the geology of Baugh
Fell, Swarth Fell and Wild Boar Fell is different to that
of the Howgills. As we concluded when we similarly
reflected at Orton, we must be on the line of a geological
fault. In fact, this is the line of one of Britain’s most well
known faults, the Dent Fault.
The Dent Fault is the most important geological feature
of the Loyne region. It runs north south for some 30km
roughly between the two Kirkbys (Stephen and Lonsdale),
splitting the northern half of Loyne in two. To the west are
the rounded Howgills of Silurian rock (about 420 million
years old); to the east are the horizontal limestone scars of
the Dales (some 100 million years younger).
The line of the Dent Fault is, of course, not a
hypothetical line like the equator that one might imagine
standing astride. It is a line of weakness in the earth’s
surface that, over a long period about 300 million years ago
and with tumultuous forces, caused the rocks to the west of
it to rise about 2km compared to the rocks to the east. It is
considered the best example in England of a reverse fault
(as opposed to a normal fault, where rocks move down).
In the eons afterwards the western rocks have been eroded
to roughly the same level as the eastern rocks. But along
the fault-line there were and remain complex distortions of
the rocks. This explains also the line of quarries along the
fault, as various exposed minerals were mined.
We will cross the line of the fault again later as we
follow the Clough River, the River Dee and Barbon Beck.
Sally Beck 69
Walk 8: Fell End Clouds, Wild Boar Fell and Uldale Gill
Starting point: A large lay-by on the A683 near Rawthey Bridge (712978).
Cross the bridge, walk 400m along the A683, take the footpath left up to Murthwaite and continue to Sprintgill (with views
of Wild Boar Fell to the right). At Low Sprintgill, drop down to cross the A683 and take the track past the ruins of Dovengill to
reach the by-road. Walk north and 200m past Cold Keld take the track passing between two prominent limekilns. Continue up the
track past the enclosed fields to Dale Slack to reach the fell above the limestone.
Now it is a long, pathless walk to the top of Wild Boar Fell, gently sloped apart from the sharp climb above Sand Tarn.
Aim to the left of the two cairns on the horizon. From the trig point there are views across the rolling Howgills to the Lake
District peaks. Stroll over to the cairns on the precipitous eastern edge and admire the breath-taking view into the Eden valley of
Mallerstang. To the right, you can see Pen-y-Ghent, Pendle, Ingleborough and Whernside.
From Wild Boar Fell head south to the saddle below Swarth Fell, with a small tarn. Turn west to follow Uldale Gill down,
keeping high on the northern bank, to avoid too much up and down. Cautley Crag is straight ahead. Just before Grain Gill joins,
a beck can be seen issuing from a cave halfway up the south bank of Uldale Gill.
After crossing Grain Gill, keep to the right of the wall that takes you southwest. Follow the wall to the right of a small
plantation to reach the road. Turn left and follow the track across Needlehouse Gill. As the path swings down among trees, look
out to the right for a footbridge across Needlehouse Gill (there seems not to be a footpath sign). Cross the footbridge and follow
the footpath that goes through Needle House, New House, Tarn and Wraygreen. Follow the road back to Rawthey Bridge.
Short walk variation: Walk through Murthwaite and Cold Keld to Dale Slack, above Fell End Clouds, as for the long walk. Now
follow the contour south for about 3km to reach Grain Gill and the wall north of Needlehouse Gill. Then follow the last part of the
long walk through Needle House to Wraygreen and Rawthey Bridge. If the walk south along the contour seems to be loo long, it
is always possible to shorten the walk by dropping down west to The Street and following it southwest to Rawthey Bridge.
Sally Beck (centre) joining the Rawthey (running from right to left)
The Rawthey from Sally Beck ...
A
s the Rawthey swings south it passes Murthwaite
Park, the only sizable area of ancient woodland in
the Howgills. The scrubby birch, hazel, ash and alder are
still home to red squirrels although perhaps for not much
longer as on two recent occasions I think I glimpsed grey
squirrels as well. But perhaps I am unduly pessimistic:
I understand that the present cull of grey squirrels is
beginning to bring red squirrels back to the Howgills
area.
Many becks from the eastern Howgills and West
Baugh Fell join the Rawthey as it continues south through
luxuriant green pastures. Wandale Beck runs from
Adamthwaite, an isolated farmhouse that has the honour
of being the habitation nearest to the Lune’s source,
just 2km southeast of Green Bell. The next significant
tributary, Backside Beck, runs, appropriately, from the
back side of Green Bell. All the Howgills, therefore,
except for a small part northeast of Green Bell, is within
the Lune catchment area. The farmstead of Mountain
View, above Backside Beck, is abandoned, but what can
you expect of a place called Mountain View? It has to be
something like Cobblethwaite to survive up here.
Wandale Beck and Backside Beck are notable
for exposures of fossil-rich Ordovician and Silurian
rocks along their beds, of great interest to geologists.
According to the Site of Special Scientific Interest
description “the Cautley Mudstones of Rawtheyan age
are of a dominantly dalmanellid-plectambonitacean
assemblage”, which is more than I could ask for.
Within the Rawthey valley there are a few
farmsteads, a garage and the Cross Keys Inn. The inn
was originally a farmstead called High Haygarth (Low
Haygarth continues nearby as a horse-breeding farm). It
is older than the date (1730) newly installed over its door.
Wandale Hill from the slopes of Yarlside
The Rawthey from Sally Beck ... 71
Cautley Spout (centre, to the right of Cautley Crag) from Foxhole Rigg
An earlier owner’s wife, Dorothy Benson, a Quaker who
had been imprisoned in 1653, was later buried (after she
died, of course) under what is now the dining room. High
Haygarth became an inn in the 1800s, probably after the
road was re-aligned in 1820 to run past it rather than
over Bluecaster. It was converted to a temperance inn in
1902 and left to the National Trust in 1949.
Below the Cross Keys Inn, Cautley Holme Beck
joins the Rawthey from within the great bowl of Cautley
Crag and Yarlside. The becks that run east from The
Calf create Cautley Spout, a cascade of 200m in all,
with a longest single fall of 30m. Some guides assign
various superlatives to Cautley Spout – for example,
that it is England’s highest waterfall. It would take
an odd definition for any such objective claim to be
sound. It is safer to be more subjective, by saying that
Cautley Spout provides the best long-distance view of
any English waterfall – from Bluecaster, for example.
However, from afar, you see only the last of a series of
cascades. The full set can be seen only from the slopes of
the unnamed hill south of Yarlside. Dominated by grass,
the Howgills are generally of little botanical interest
but the Cautley Spout ravine, well-watered, sun-facing
and protected from grazing, has a number of unusual
plant species, such as alpine lady’s mantle, otherwise
restricted in England to the Lake District. Perhaps the
Cautley Crag - and, beyond Cautley Spout, Bowderdale
The Top 10 waterfalls in Loyne
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Cautley Spout, Howgills
Black Force, Howgills
Rawthey (Uldale) Force
Thornton Force, Ingleton
Gaping Gill, below Ingleborough
Force Gill, Whernside
Ibbeth Peril, Dentdale
Docker Force, Birk Beck
Taythes Gill, Baugh Fell
Clough Force, Grisedale
protected bowl around Cautley Holme Beck encouraged
the Iron Age settlements for which, for the only time
within the Howgills, the OS map uses its special font
for antiquities.
Cautley Spout is at the northern end of the 1km cliff
face of Cautley Crag, formed by the erosion of an Ice
Age cirque. The crag face is too unstable to be walked
upon or climbed but it is the most impressive cliff in
the Howgills. At close quarters, the cliff face is less
fearsome than it seems: it is not as vertical as it looks
from a distance and the ominous dark is due to heather,
not rock, which is a pale grey, as the scree slopes show.
The Rawthey from Sally Beck ... 73
The tributary of Ecker Secker Beck, like all the
new wool carding machines, powered by a water wheel.
becks that drain west off West Baugh Fell and cross the
The Woodland Trust now manages Hebblethwaite Hall
Dent Fault, has eroded deep ravines and formed a series
Wood, which is a 1km long strip of ancient oak and ash
of small waterfalls as it crosses tilted, fissured rocks.
woodland alongside the beck that tumbles in a deep,
The unusual exposed rock formations in Taythes Gill are
dark ravine over many small waterfalls. A permissive
well worth a visit, even for the amateur geologist. For
path by the beck provides a short walk, best appreciated
the professional, they are essential; for it is here that the
on a winter’s day, when the leaves have fallen.
fine detail of upper Ordovician rock (420-440 million
If you follow the path down from the hall you may
years old) may be unravelled. The trilobite fossils first
need to rub your sheep-sated eyes as you approach the
found here are used as the standard by which the same
farmstead of Ghyllas. What you see are not sheep at
layers are identified elsewhere.
all but alpaca. Ghyllas is leading a Why Not Alpacas?
Some expertise is also required to appreciate Ecker
campaign – and, if the farmers are happy, why not
Secker Beck’s other notable feature, the meadows near
indeed? Alpacas certainly have more spirit and charm
Foxhole Rigg that have been made a Site of Special
than sheep. They make a soft humming noise and if
Scientific Interest because they are a rare example of
in the mood they orgle (an orgle is a kind of orgasmic
unimproved, traditionally managed grassland. The
gargle). More to the commercial point, alpaca fibre is
list of herbs and grasses that grow here reads like the
valued for the lightness and warmth it brings to winter
index to a botanical encyclopedia. If you can tell a hairy
clothing.
lady’s mantle from an opposite-leaved golden saxifrage,
Shortly after the Hebblethwaite Hall Gill merger,
then this too is worth a visit. Lacking geological or
the Rawthey passes under Straight Bridge and after a
botanical expertise, we may simply enjoy the views
further 200m, the major tributary of Clough River joins
across to the eastern Howgills, with Cautley Crag
the Rawthey.
centre stage, and count the great
spotted woodpeckers, which, on
a bright November day, seemed
plentiful.
Further
south,
where
Hebblethwaite Hall Gill crosses
the Dent Fault, the line of the
fault is indicated by a series of
shakeholes. As these form in
limestone, the fault must run just
to the west of the line of holes. To
the east of the fault, on a plateau
between the rough sheep grazing
land and the green cow pastures,
some of the exposed rock strata
are almost vertical, indicating the
geological stresses of long ago.
Hebblethwaite is an ancient
name for the district. A Richardus
and Agnes de Hebletwayt are
listed in the Poll Tax of 1379
and a will of 1587 refers to
“the Mannor or Graunge of
Hebblethwaite”. Hebblethwaite
Mill was built in the 1790s and
was one of the first to use the
Alpaca at Ghyllas, with Knott and Fawcett Bank Rigg beyond
Walk 9: The Calf via Great Dummacks
Starting point: A lay-by opposite St Marks Church (691946).
We have nearly completed our circuit of the Howgills and I have not yet provided a walk to its highest point, The Calf
(676m). Since The Calf is at the centre of the radiating ridges, many walks are possible. The two ‘tourist routes’ (not that there
are many tourists) are from Sedbergh over Winder and from Cross Keys Inn past Cautley Spout. Our expedition is intended to
provide a greater variety of walking than is usual on the Howgills.
Before setting off, note the ridge on the western horizon: that is your immediate objective. Walk 200m north along the A683,
cross the footbridge at Crook Holme, and take the higher of the two paths north to reach the CRoW land. Walk north for a short
distance, past gorse bushes, and then cut diagonally back to reach Fawcett Bank Rigg.
Now it is relentlessly uphill along a grassy ridge but not too steep for comfortable walking. There is no hurry: stop often to
admire Rawtheydale below and Wild Boar Fell beyond. Continue to the edge of Cautley Crag, and not one step further: the best
view in the Howgills is suddenly revealed. Skirt the edge a little distance and then make your way across to the Calf trig point,
visible 1km to the west. This involves a little scrambling up, down and over grass tussocks.
From The Calf follow the main ridge south for 3km to Arant Haw, below which you swing south off the path to Crook
(1km distant), where there is a large cairn. Descend the slope south: it is steep but not too difficult. Look at the fields below and
compare carefully with your map to identify where the public footpath begins: there’s a stile in the corner of the field (666931).
Then take the path northeast through Ghyll Farm, Stone Hall, Hollin Hill, Ellerthwaite, Thursgill and Fawcett Bank (noting
the fine bridge over Hobdale Beck). A further km beyond Fawcett Bank you reach the path back to Crook Holme, the footbridge,
and the starting point.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk as far as the edge of Cautley Crag. Then turn west over Great Dummacks for nearly
1 km to reach the fence that drops south to Middle Tongue. Continue on the Middle Tongue ridge until you reach the confluence
of Hobdale Gill and Grimes Gill. Cross the latter and continue east to drop down (avoiding gorse bushes) to the track from which
you reach the Crook Holme footbridge.
Clough River
C
lough River begins to adopt its name at Garsdale
Head, 15km east of Sedbergh, after gathering the
becks that flow off East Baugh Fell and south Swarth
Fell through the secluded valley of Grisedale. We can
regard the westernmost of these becks, Grisedale Gill,
to be its source. Grisedale Gill and Haskhaw Gill set off
north from Tarn Hill on East Baugh Fell a few metres
apart before going their opposite ways, Haskhaw Gill
joining the Rawthey. Their waters then complete semicircuits of Baugh Fell, before re-uniting near Sedbergh.
The only feature on East Baugh Fell is Grisedale
Pike, where a dozen or so cairns form a prominent
landmark at an excellent viewpoint into Grisedale and
upper Wensleydale. A cairn usually stands alone, as a
guide to shepherd or walker, and so when they occur in
a cluster and presumably had some function beyond that
of mere guide, it is natural to wonder what that function
might have been. The cairns are very old but they seem
not to have had any function such as has been proposed
for standing stones such as Stonehenge. Their position,
at this precise location, surely reflects aesthetic values of
long ago, which are not so different from our own.
As Grisedale Gill swings east it enters The Dale that
Died, as Grisedale was called in a book and television
documentary of that name in the 1970s. In the previous
few decades all but one of the farmsteads in the dale
were deserted and left to fall into ruin, the families
there no longer able to cope with the economic hardship
of farming life. Abandoned and derelict, Grisedale
no doubt enabled a romantic tale to be told of human
struggle against adversity.
But the funeral rites were premature. Not only does
the one remaining farm appear to be flourishing, but also
many of the ruins have been, or are being, revitalised.
For example, Fea Fow is in fine fettle: it is a Grade II
listed traditional farmhouse, built in the 17th century and
renovated to retain many original features, now with a
new role as a holiday cottage.
One may lament the passing of a time when a family
could live off a small patch of land in such an isolated
location. On the other hand, Grisedale is much too fine a
valley to be forgotten. Its fields, all above 350m, provide
a sheltered haven – or even heaven, for those who like
Clough River 75
Pen-y-Ghent (far left), Ingleborough and Whernside (to the right) from East Baugh Fell
the quiet becks and limestone crags within the high
moors. As long as the new developments are in keeping
with the traditions of Grisedale – as they appear to be –
they must surely be welcomed as Grisedale evolves into
a new role.
After gathering a few more becks from East Baugh
Fell, Grisedale Beck becomes Clough River and passes
over Clough Force, a neat, curved waterfall only 3m or
so high. Just below the A684 the Clough is joined by
Black Gutter, which leaves Garsdale Low Moor heading
purposefully towards Wensleydale only to swing west
at Dandry Mire. According to experts, all the becks that
flow east off Baugh Fell used to join the River Ure but
were blocked by glacial debris and so were diverted west.
At the watershed of Dandry Mire there’s an impressive
12-arched viaduct, which provides our first encounter
with the famous Settle-Carlisle railway line. It is a mire
indeed for the original plan to build an embankment had
to be abandoned when the earth tipped here just sank
into the bog.
The Clough heads west through the valley of
Garsdale, perhaps the least highly regarded of all the
Yorkshire Dales, at least, by tourists. It is a narrow
valley so enclosed by the steep, grassy, featureless
slopes of Baugh Fell and Rise Hill that in winter the sun
can barely reach. The busy A684 runs by the Clough,
crossing it eight times in all.
The conifer plantations in Garsdale have been made
a Red Squirrel Reserve, one of sixteen set up in 2005
by the North of England Red Squirrel Conservation
Strategy. It is thought that the numbers of red squirrels
have increased as the conifers have reached maturity,
providing the cones upon which red, but not grey,
squirrels thrive.
The Settle-Carlisle railway line is the most spectacular
in England. It runs for nearly 120km, with 325 bridges,
21 viaducts and 14 tunnels, on a route through some of
the finest scenery of northern England. It was completed
in 1876, after 6½ years building, at a cost of £3.5m and
many lives. It is regarded as the last great Victorian railway
engineering project.
The 15km of the line that is within Loyne includes
four dramatic viaducts and two long tunnels and is all at a
height of 300m or more, providing fine views of the dales
and hills (except when in the tunnels, of course).
In the 1980s there were plans to close the line: freight
traffic was diverted, passenger services were withdrawn,
and the infrastructure was allowed to decay. However, after
a long, high-profile campaign the line was reprieved, which
pleased tourists and also freight operators, who came to
value it as an alternative to the crowded west coast main
line. In 2005 it found an additional role: to carry six trains a
day bringing coal from Scottish mines to Yorkshire power
stations.
Dandrymire Viaduct from Grisedale Pike
There are a few footpaths in the dale but they cannot
be linked to make a good long walk. Many of them
appear unwelcoming and under-used, giving the walker
the feeling of trespassing. Although the slopes of Baugh
Fell and Rise Hill are CRoW land they are tantalisingly
out of reach above the pastures: a walker must enter at
the eastern or western end and it must be rare indeed
for anyone to find the incentive to walk the slopes
from one end to the other. On a recent occasion when
I walked in Garsdale the A684 was closed because the
Clough had washed some of it away, which was much
appreciated. The footpaths, by-roads and quiet A684
could be combined to provide a rare, blissful experience:
an indication of what Garsdale once was and could be.
There is not much to cause a tourist to linger,
although rural architecture is always interesting. Some
Clough River 77
houses are converted long barns but
many follow the standard design of
three windows up, two down, with
a door and porch between. Dandra
Garth, by the bridleway to Dentdale
and now rather enclosed, has character.
Swarthgill House is startlingly white.
But Paradise (East, West, Middle and
High) is somewhat optimistic.
The village of Garsdale consists
of little more than a row of cottages,
called The Street. There’s a Primitive
Methodist Chapel (1876, when the
Settle-Carlisle line was built), now
a Mount Zion Chapel, at Garsdale
Head, and in the village another
Primitive Methodist Chapel (1841)
and the Anglican Church of St John
the Baptist (1861), next to the site of
a medieval church, and further on a
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (1830),
and at Bridge End another Wesleyan
Chapel (1868), now a barn, and
at Frostrow yet another Wesleyan
Chapel (1886).
Methodism, like Quakerism, had
and has a particular appeal to nonconformist northerners. It is a more
visible presence in Loyne because,
clearly, Methodists, unlike Quakers,
believed in their chapels and the
19th century was a safe time to build
them. Even in the remotest regions we
come across sometimes tiny chapels,
to which itinerant preachers came to
give enthusiastic sermons.
At Danny Bridge, as the Clough
emerges from the confines of Baugh
Fell and Rise Hill, it runs beside the
Sedgwick Trail across the Dent Fault.
A detailed leaflet should be obtained
from Sedbergh Tourist Information
Centre in order fully to appreciate
the significance of the viewpoints but
even without it the transition across
the Dent Fault, from the contorted
Carboniferous limestone to the older
Silurian rocks, should be clear: roughly
A considerate warning on the footpath into Grisedale
A once-fine but now derelict homestead in Garsdale
Baugh Fell from lower Garsdale
where the wood opposite ends there is
an abrupt change from a rocky gorge
within sloping limestone to a shallow,
broad valley with rocks 100m years
older. Above the trail on Tom Croft
Hill there is a fine view of the “naked
heights” (copyright Wordsworth) of
the Howgills. I don’t know who Tom
Croft was but if he lived in Tom Croft
Cave on the Sedgwick Trail he was
exceedingly small.
The Clough runs between the
gentler slopes of Dowbiggin and
Frostrow and, just before it enters the
Rawthey, passes Farfield Mill, an arts
and heritage centre in which a range
of artists (such as weavers, furniture
makers and textile workers) work in
open studios. Built in 1836, it had
functioned as a woollen mill until
it closed in 1992, after which it was
bought and restored by the Sedbergh
and District Buildings Preservation
Trust.
Walk 10: Grisedale and East Baugh Fell
Starting point: Near Garsdale Station (787917).
Cross the A684 and take the clearly signposted path to Blake Mire. Continue to Moor Rigg and then follow the road to East
House and the track past Fea Fow to Flust. At Flust take the higher of the two paths, continuing on the contour west. The path
gradually becomes less distinct, as it passes lines of shakeholes.
Note the deep gully of Rawthey Gill ahead: your aim is to reach between the two gullies east of it, Haskhaw Gill and
Grisedale Gill. At that point, it becomes clear that the former flows west and the latter east. There is a cave marked on the OS map
at the strategic point but don’t worry unduly about locating it – it refers to one of the many shakeholes.
So far, it has been a pleasant stroll through the hidden valley of Grisedale but now you must summon the energy to walk up
the watershed between the two gills. Eventually, a cairn will come into view on your right. Keep to the left of the cairn, proceed
to the wall and follow it to the top of Tarn Rigg Hill. The panorama is wide but note especially the view of Whernside, 10km
south.
Return east by the wall for 1km and continue in its line, leaving it as it bends to the right. This takes you directly to the cairns
of Grisedale Pike, with a view of Dandrymire Viaduct and upper Wensleydale.
Aim towards the viaduct and, keeping to the CRoW land, reach Double Hole Bridge. Keep on the right bank of Stony Gill
to pass Clough Force and then, after reaching the road at Clough Cottage, walk back towards Garsdale Station.
Short walk variation: A short walk does not permit the long tramp up Baugh Fell. Instead, we must content ourselves with an
exploration of Grisedale. Follow the long walk as far as Flust and then take the lower of the two paths, to the ruin of Round Ing.
Then turn east to return via West Scale and East Scale to the road at Moor Rigg. From here you could return the way you came,
or follow the road (very little traffic) over Double Hole Bridge for 2km to the Old Road and then cross the A684 at Low Scale,
returning via High Scale.
CHAPTER 5:
Lower Rawtheydale
and Dentdale
80 Chapter 5: Lower Rawtheydale and Dentdale
Arant Haw ▲
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Settlebeck Gil
Winder ▲
Artengill
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Blea Moor ▲
walk 11
Whernside ▲
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Rawthey from the Clough ... 81
T
The Rawthey from the Clough ...
he Clough, having travelled much the same
distance as the Rawthey up to this point, almost
doubles the size of the Rawthey, which now
changes character and relaxes into a double bed, as
it were, some 50m wide. Opposite the junction is the
old Stone Hall, with a three-storeyed porch and large
round chimneys, the latter also to be seen at nearby
Hollin Hill. I have not seen such chimneys elsewhere
in Loyne and, being an inquisitive soul, I have tried to
find an explanation. I understand that they are ‘Flemish
chimneys’ and that there is a preponderance of similar
chimneys in Pembrokeshire, for some reason, and
presumably also in Flanders. Why they are here I have
been unable to discover.
On the outskirts of Sedbergh the Rawthey is joined
by Settlebeck Gill, which runs past the earthwork
remains of the Castlehaw motte and bailey. The motte,
at 9m high, must have been a good observation post. The
remains are on private land but seem in good shape, as
can be best seen from the slopes of Winder.
Sedbergh oozes contentment, and why not? Basking
below Winder, it gains strength from its one thousand
years of history, serenity from the playing fields of the
five-hundred-year-old school, and self-confidence from
its newfound status as a ‘book town’.
Sedbergh was mentioned in the
Domesday Book of 1086 and Castlehaw
confirms its strategic importance, lying
near the meeting of four rivers, the Lune,
Rawthey, Clough and Dee. A market
charter was granted in 1251. St Andrews
Church has a Norman doorway and
lists vicars back to 1350 but was largely
rebuilt in 1886 (although the clock has a
date of 1866, for some reason). Within
the church are several plaques to local
notables, including John Dawson, an
eminent mathematician, born in Garsdale
and “beloved for his amiable simplicity of
character.” My favourite is that of the Rev.
Posthumus Wharton, who was headmaster
of Sedbergh School from 1674 to 1706.
Sedbergh School was established as a
chantry school in 1525 by Roger Lupton,
provost of Eton and born in the parish of
Sedbergh. After the Dissolution of the
Monasteries (1539), it was re-established as a grammar
school in 1551. The school has not always flourished:
in 1865, when it had only ten pupils, an inspection
considered that “it simply cumbers the ground”.
Amongst recent alumni are the rugby stars, Will Carling
and Will Greenwood. Although Sedbergh School is not
in the top division of independent schools, it is central to
Sedbergh’s image.
This image perhaps helped Sedbergh to persuade
itself to become England’s first book town in 2005
(the pioneering book town, Hay-on-Wye, being just
in Wales). Book town status is not formally defined:
what makes a place a book town is simply a decision
to proclaim itself one. By convention, a book town is a
small town in which little else happens apart from the
selling of old books. This description may deter nonbibliophiles but presumably Sedbergh hopes that overall
a boost will be given to the local economy and culture.
The obligatory Book Festival takes place in the autumn
and a more innovative Festival of Ideas in the summer,
although the latter lapsed in 2009, which is a shame as
we are all in need of good ideas.
Two pages before: Deepdale and Dentdale.
Below: Stone Hall, near Sedbergh.
Sedbergh’s self-image is also reflected in its
participation in 2004 in the BBC TV programme The
Town that Wants a Twin in which, over twelve long
episodes, Sedbergh auditioned four towns for the honour
of becoming Sedbergh’s twin. The citizens of Sedbergh
duly voted for Zreĉe of Slovenia. This one-way process
does not seem to reflect the spirit of twinning as an equal
partnership.
There are pleasant, well-used paths on both banks
of the Rawthey. At Millthrop Bridge we rejoin the Dales
Way, which follows the Rawthey for 4km before veering
north to join the Lune. As you might expect of a village
whose sign proudly calls it a “hamlet”, Millthrop itself
is a set of cottages too pretty for words – at least, any
words of mine.
After a further kilometre, the Rawthey goes over
a weir that was used to power Birks Mill for cotton
spinning and then, after a bend, is joined by the River
Dee from the south.
Above: Sedbergh, with Winder, Arant Haw and
Crook behind.
Right: Welcome to Sedbergh.
The River Dee 83
The River Dee
T
he River Dee rises on Blea Moor and runs 20km
through Dentdale, many people’s favourite of the
Yorkshire Dales, even though it is now in Cumbria. Only
the very highest of the headwaters of the Dee on Blea
Moor are in North Yorkshire.
There is only one feature of note on Blea Moor and
that we cannot see: the tunnel that runs for 2.5km under
it. This is for the Settle-Carlisle line, which continues
on the flanks of Wold Fell and Great Knoutberry Hill
over the impressive viaducts at Dent Head and Arten
Gill, built from 1870 to 1875. They have ten and eleven
arches, respectively, and are both over 30m high. Their
construction, in this high and remote terrain, was difficult
and hazardous. On one occasion, a flood caused by 6cm
of rain in 45 minutes drowned two people, buried a
horse and wagon in debris, and washed away several
bridges. Earlier, according to David Boulton’s booklet
Discovering Upper Dentdale, in 1752 an avalanche
killed seven people, which, I believe, makes that the
second worst avalanche in the United Kingdom. So,
although it is likely to be pastoral tranquillity when we
visit, the weather can be wild here.
The two viaducts are built of ‘Dent marble’, which
is actually a dark limestone. The marble was mined
locally until the 1920s and prepared at Stone House,
near Arten Gill. It was valued for ornamental masonry,
such as luxury fireplaces – indeed, being so valued, it
seems strange that such huge volumes were used in the
viaducts. No doubt, the convenience of being to hand
was the main factor. The previously rough track by Arten
Gill has recently been renovated to form part of the 350mile Pennine Bridleway National Trail.
Dent Station is 2km north of Artengill Viaduct and
is a tribute to the engineer’s faith in the energy of the
residents in Dentdale. It is 7km from Dent itself and
the final kilometre up from Lea Yeat is very steep. The
Artengill Viaduct
station platform has a notice saying that, at 350m, it is
“the highest mainline station in England”. It is pleasing
that someone at least regards the Settle-Carlisle line as
a main line. The station is surprisingly neat, considering
the weather conditions, painted dark red, and gives fine
views into Dentdale. The old station building can be
rented for holiday accommodation, so you could enjoy
the view through its windows, obscured a little by “eciffo
tekcit” and “moor gnitiaw seidal”. The converted station
is now the proud recipient of a North West Tourism and
Leisure Award.
The road passing Dent Station is called the Coal
Road and the stretch on Galloway Gate is pockmarked
with disused coal pits. Coal mining stopped as soon as the
railway existed to deliver coal more cheaply. The name
of Galloway Gate tells us that it used to be a drove road.
It is hard today to imagine this clamour of activities high
up, at over 500m, on the now lonely and quiet moor.
Cowgill Beck runs from the area of the coal pits,
through Dodderham Moss, one of the conifer plantations
that disfigure Dentdale, past the entrance to Risehill
Tunnel on the Settle-Carlisle line, to join the Dee at
Ibbeth Peril
Cowgill. The foundation stone of Cowgill Chapel was
laid in 1837 by Dentdale’s most famous son, Adam
Sedgwick, who, although living in Cambridge, continued
to keep a fatherly eye on his chapel. Thirty years later,
Sedgwick led a campaign to parliament to have the name
of Cowgill Chapel restored when the curate changed it
to Kirkthwaite Chapel. He preferred the unpretentious
‘Cowgill’ and was angry at the misspelling of Kirthwaite,
the old name for the region. The curate, however, was
not to blame: the 1852 OS map has “Kirkthwaite”.
In the valley the River Dee gathers the waters than
run steeply off the fells through deep gorges and cascades,
and proceeds serenely down its upper reaches from Dent
Head to Cowgill. The riverbed is mostly flat rock, which
the river seems to shimmer over, with occasional ledges
Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) was born in Dent and spent
much of his youth scrambling over the fells collecting
rocks and fossils. From Sedbergh School he went to Trinity
College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow. He was
ordained in 1817, thus following the family tradition, as
evidenced by the many memorials in the Dent church.
In 1818, despite having no recognised experience of
fieldwork, he became Professor of Geology.
He duly set out to become a proper geologist. His
studies of the complex geology of the Lake District led to
a pioneering publication in 1835. He discovered the Dent
Fault, and the Sedgwick Trail in Garsdale is named after
him. He became president of the Geological Society of
London and organised many scientific activities.
Inevitably, he became embroiled in scientific debates
of the time, such as the Great Devonian Controversy,
concerning the mapping and interpretation of various
geological strata. Of more resonance today is his
disagreement with his ex-student Darwin over his theory
of evolution. To the author of Origin of Species, Sedgwick
wrote “I have read your book with more pain than pleasure.
Parts of it I admired greatly; parts I laughed at until my sides
were sore; other parts I read with absolute sorrow; because
I think them utterly false and grievously mischievous”.
What grieved him was the removal of the guiding hand of
God from the process of natural selection, which he could
not accept. This view endears him today to creationists,
although unlike many of them he did, as a geologist, accept
that the Earth was extremely old.
Sedgwick retained the warm-spirited generosity
attributable to his Dentdale upbringing. Although he lived
in Cambridge all his working life, he maintained his links
to Dent and in 1868 wrote A Memorial by the Trustees
of Cowgill Chapel that gives one of the best pictures of
Dentdale life at the time.
The River Dee 85
producing little waterfalls and, at Scow, a reasonably
large one.
As the Dee turns west, it enters a more turbulent
phase. If you investigate the river closely – for example,
around the Ibbeth Peril waterfall and along the stretch
between Lenny’s Leap, where the river narrows to run
in a gully 50cm wide, and Tommy Bridge – you may
notice that the volume of water does not always increase
as it flows west. Some of the clefts and holes that can be
seen in the limestone walls and bed of the gorge are large
enough to form caves, through which the river tends
to disappear. As you walk on the north bank towards
Tommy Bridge, water can be seen entering the Dee from
below the south bank, with no beck apparent in the fields
above.
The area forms the Upper Dentdale Cave System,
a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is one of the best
examples of a cave system that had developed beneath the
valley floor and that has been broken into by the modern
river eroding its bed. The system extends for 1.7km in a
narrow band under the present river and includes a 30m
by 60m chamber. Under normal conditions, most of the
The Top 10 people of Loyne
Before you complain, yes, they are all men. Nominations
of women are very welcome.
1. Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873), Dent, geologist.
2. John Fleming (1849-1945), Lancaster, electrical
engineer.
3. Richard Owen (1804-1892), Lancaster,
palaeontologist.
4. John L. Austin (1911-1960), Lancaster, philosopher.
5. William Whewell (1794-1866), Lancaster,
philosopher and scientist. (Whewell is said to have
invented the word ‘scientist’.)
6. Reginald Farrer (1880-1920), Clapham, botanist.
7. James Williamson (1842-1930), the son, Lancaster,
businessman and politician.
8. John Lingard (1771-1851), Hornby, Catholic
historian.
9. William Sturgeon (1783-1850), Whittington,
physicist.
10. Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), Burton-in-Lonsdale,
poet.
Walk 11: Upper Dentdale and Great Knoutberry Hill
Starting point: By Dent Head Viaduct (777845).
Some of this walk is on roads, but they are quiet ones and the easy walking there compensates for the difficult going
elsewhere. From Dent Head Viaduct walk on the road 200m northwest to Bridge End Cottage and then take the footpath opposite
that leads back to Dent Head Farm and past the entrance to Bleamoor Tunnel. Once out of the plantation and past the air shaft
cut across to the trig point on Blea Moor (535m) for a good view of Whernside and of the Settle-Carlisle railway line far below
behind you.
Make your way east as best you can (there is no path) to join the Dales Way at Blake Rake Road. Follow the way north by
Stoops Moss to reach the road. Turn right and take the path north that continues past Wold Fell (resist the temptation to conquer
Wold Fell: there is no identifiable top and walking is unpleasantly uneven, being on grassed-over limestone clints) to reach the
bridleway at the top of Arten Gill at the point opposite the track that leads to the Galloway Gate.
Turn right for 200m to take the waymarked path that follows the wall to the top of Great Knoutberry Hill (672m), from
where the peaks of Pen-y-Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside are wonderfully arrayed and the outline of Wild Boar Fell is
impressive. Widdale Tarns can be seen to the north. Continue west by the fence past a family of cairns to the recently-improved
bridleway.
Follow this track for 600m north and then take the Coal Road west, having a look at the neat Dent Station on the way. At
Lea Yeat Bridge note the Cowgill Institute, a Quaker meetinghouse from 1702. Many farmsteads here served as meetinghouses
in the years after George Fox visited in 1652, on his way to speak at Fox’s Pulpit. Cross the River Dee and turn left to follow the
road back to Dent Head Viaduct, past (or not, if you wish) the Sportsman’s Inn, a 17th century establishment that regards grouse
shooters as sportsmen. If energy permits, a detour to look at Artengill Viaduct is worth it.
Short walk variation: There are two obvious shorter walks. One is to follow the long walk as far as the road north of Stoops Moss
and then turn left for 1km to Dent Head Viaduct. The other, for a medium length walk, is to continue as for the long walk past
Wold Fell to reach the Arten Gill track and then to turn left to Stonehouse Farm (2km) and south along the road to Dent Head
Viaduct (2km).
river is now underground and is modifying pre-existing
caves. The cave system is complex and needs experts
to investigate and interpret but, on the surface, we see
holes and caves, with water flowing into or out of some
of them.
Above the level of the floodplain Dentdale is lined
with farmsteads every 200m or so on both sides. Most
of the farmsteads are still actively farming, giving a
predominantly rural feel to the valley. Some have been
converted to holiday homes and some are derelict. The
most interesting of the latter is Gibbs Hall – a ruin now
surrounded by its offspring: Gibbs Hall Cottage, Little
Gibbs Hall and Gibbs Hall Barn. From the road two
windows with chamfered mullions and arched lintels
can be seen.
On the opposite bank is the imposing Whernside
Manor, originally and more properly called West
House, as it is not a manor house. It was built by the
Sill family, who not only became rich by exploiting
slaves in Jamaica but also employed slaves in Dentdale,
a practice continued long after they were supposed to be
emancipated. This is now a matter of shame for locals
although I overheard one in the Sun Inn who was either
proud that Dentdale had had the last slaves in England
or had imbibed too much of the esteemed local ale from
the Dent Brewery at Cowgill.
The name of Whernside Manor reminds us that the
Dee has been flowing around the broad northern slopes
of Whernside, the highest point (736m) of the Yorkshire
Dales, and gathering the becks that flow north from it.
Despite its height, there are few impressive views of
Whernside, the one from Dent across Deepdale being
as good as any. It is a ridge rather than a plateau or peak
and has few of the high-level cliffs that provide such
distinctive profiles to other Dales peaks.
It is usually assumed that Whernside’s name derives
from the querns, or stone mills for grinding corn, that
were extracted from its slopes. However, Harry Speight,
in his 19th century guides, says that it comes from the
Anglo-Saxon word for ‘warn’, since anyone on the
ridge, which separated the Anglo-Saxons to the east
and the Norse to the west, could give warnings. At least
this draws attention to the differences east and west of
Whernside: the Anglo-Saxons were arable farmers and
lived in small villages; the Norse were sheep farmers
who preferred isolated farmsteads.
Deepdale Beck is a substantial tributary of the Dee
that drains the basin that lies north of the ridge separating
Deepdale from Kingsdale. Deepdale itself is a rarely
visited dale, quieter even than Dentdale and with, as
the name would suggest, a deeply incised valley. Its
hay meadows are a Special Area of Conservation under
European law. The road over to Kingsdale is not often
travelled but those who do tackle it are rewarded with a
roadside view of Lockin Garth Force.
The Craven Way, an ancient track linking Dent
and Ingleton, leads around Whernside, reaching a
height of 540m. The walk from the Craven Way past
the surprisingly large Whernside Tarns provides a good
ascent of Whernside. Combined with a drop down to the
Kingsdale road and then a walk through Deepdale, it
gives an excellent all-day expedition from Dent.
The River Dee begins to behave itself, flowing
steadily over an even bed, as it passes north of Dent,
the centre of Dentdale. The Domesday Book records
Dentone, which became Dent Town, and now plain Dent
– although it is far from plain: its narrow, cobbled streets
and whitewashed walls provide a distinctive, attractive
character.
The Church of St Andrews has Norman foundations
and was largely rebuilt in the 15th and 17th centuries. The
floor around the altar is paved with Dent marble, both
the black and grey versions. Next to the church is the
old grammar school (now a private home), built in 1604
from funding provided by Dentdale benefactors. The
school closed in 1897 but the governors still meet for
the enjoyable task of distributing money from the stillexisting charities to local pupils.
Like all grammar schools, Dent’s existed to educate
young men in the delights of Latin and Greek grammar.
Young women were trained in more practical skills,
amongst which knitting was the most renowned in
Dentdale. Girls were sent, not always willingly, to Dent
from around the region to learn the art. The activity
peaked in the 18th century when socks and gloves were
supplied to the army. The narrow streets then appeared
narrower still because the houses had over-hanging
galleries where people sat to knit and chat.
On the streets today is the Sedgwick Memorial,
a huge Shap granite boulder, in honour of Adam
Sedgwick. The Dent Fault that runs through Dentdale
partly accounts for the differences between east and
west Dentdale. To the east, becks cut deep gills in the
V-shaped valley and the fields are large and walled; to
the west, the slopes are gentle with fields hedged and
with deciduous trees.
The River Dee 87
One of the Whernside Tarns
In 2006 the Flinter Gill Nature Trail and the Dent
Village Heritage Centre were opened, the latter helping
immensely to clear the attics of local farmsteads. In fact,
the leaflet for the nature trail existed before the trail did,
showing it to be a fine piece of creative literature, with
waulking, deiseal, sniggin, Dancing Flags and a Wishing
Tree. Its wishful thinking is symptomatic of a problem
with the tourist industry, upon which Dent now depends:
it is liable to ruin the very things that appeal to tourists
in the first place.
Self-defeatingly, Dentdale sells itself as ‘the hidden
valley’. It can be entered by the railway and by five
narrow roads (from Rawtheydale, Garsdale, Ribblesdale,
Kingsdale and Barbondale), all of which feel like back
entrances. It should be a green, restful haven but the
more we are persuaded to visit it the less hidden it will
become. In the summer the cobbled streets are already
thronging with people and cars. There seems little need
for artificial trails or for the air of desperation that
pervades Dent’s publicity.
Flinter Gill provides a pleasant stroll along a stony
track by small waterfalls but if the crowds are encouraged
there it will soon need litter bins, barriers (to stop people
slipping on the dangerous ‘dancing flags’), and so on.
The 1km trail ends at a “magnificent viewpoint” where
a toposcope tells us what we can see, leaving the fells
above still empty for those with a bit more energy.
Above this point, Flinter Gill runs from the northern
slopes of Great Coum (687m), an underrated hill that
displays its great coum or cirque towards Dentdale. All
three north-facing slopes of Dentdale have their cirques,
gouged out in the Ice Age (Middleton Fell has Combe
Top and Combe Scar; Whernside has Combe and Combe
Bottom) but Great Coum is the most impressive. The
southern ridge of the cirque, past the old quarry where
Dent marble was also mined, is the best ascent. The view
is excellent, from Whernside nearby to the Howgills and
the Lake District in the distance and to the south the
lower Lune valley.
Below Great Coum, on a rise overlooking Dentdale,
stand the Megger Stones, a group of ten or so cairns
showing varying degrees of competence at cairn-building.
The Megger Stones are just above the Occupation Road
or Green Lane, as the OS map calls it. It is named from
when the fells, used for common grazing, were enclosed
or occupied in the 1850s. It may be assumed to be an
The Megger Stones
ancient track, like the Craven Way, but it is not marked
on an OS map of 1853. It reaches a height of 520m
around the head of Deepdale and, although rutted and
muddy, provides a fine high-level walk.
From the Occupation Road we have a good view of
Rise Hill, which some call Aye Gill Pike, although there
is nothing pikey about it. It rises gently and uniformly
north of Dentdale like an enormous backcloth, to reach
556m. Although the ridge now has stiles over the many
walls it is no great pleasure to walk its boggy length. If
you must conquer it, a frontal assault is possible from
a permissive path that runs north through Shoolbred
(northeast of Church Bridge). At the eastern end of the
ridge, the OS map indicates “Will’s Hill or Peggy’s Hill”.
Did Will and Peggy really argue over the ownership of
this dismal hill, which is actually more of a morass?
Baugh Fell (in the sun) behind Rise Hill (in the shade), from Crag Hill
(I was struck by how the walls on the two hills appeared to be aligned)
The River Dee 89
Walk 12: Middle Dentdale
Starting point: Dent (704872).
The character of Dentdale is best appreciated in the valley, so this walk is on the lower slopes, with an optional extension to
a medium height, to provide good views of the dale.
Walk through Dent, keeping left past the church, to Church Bridge and then turn left to follow the Dales Way west for 2km
to Barth Bridge. At Barth Bridge take the footpath north to High Barth and then follow this path that winds its way east through
a series of farmsteads (including High Hall, Scotchergill and Peggleswright) to Bankland. You will become well practised at the
art of locating and passing the various stiles.
Now walk east for a little over a kilometre on the quiet road past Gibbs Hall to Ibbeth Peril waterfall. Cross the footbridge
(behind the lay-by just east of the waterfall) and then take the equally quiet road west for 1km to Rise View, where you drop down
to the footbridge over the Dee and then continue on the north bank to Tommy Bridge.
Cross the bridge and continue southwest to Bridge End, at which point you have a choice. If the pubs beckon, continue along
the Dales Way to Church Bridge and Dent.
Otherwise, cross Mill Bridge over Deepdale Beck and immediately take the footpath (signposted “Deepdale Road 1/4m”)
south to Scow (about 1km). Turn right to Peacock Hill and then take the wide path of Nun House Outrake that leads up to Green
Lane, which gives good views of Dentdale and of Rise Hill opposite. Take this track west and after 2km turn down by Flinter
Gill, to return to Dent.
Short walk variation: Walk to Church Bridge and turn east along the Dales Way. Walk for 2km to Bridge End. From there, pick
up the last part of the long walk, that is, south to Scow, along Nun House Outrake, Green Lane and Flinter Gill to Dent.
The Dee flows west to Barth Bridge, below the small
village of Gawthrop, and by the Helmside Craft Centre
to the north and Combe Scar to the south, and on to Rash
Bridge. Here, we pause to point out a general problem
concerning the maintenance of bridges. Bats like to
roost in crevices under bridges and they are protected
by law, it being illegal to damage or destroy bat roosts.
Fifteen roosts were found under Rash Bridge in 1994, so
delaying repair work. The bats subsequently returned,
although they did not after similar repair to Barth Bridge
upstream.
By Rash Bridge is an old woollen spinning mill.
There was an even older corn mill here, as there are
records of one being demolished in 1590 after a dispute
over whose land it was on. Before food was readily
transported, cereals were grown locally, as oats were
part of the staple diet. The ownership of corn mills was,
therefore, an important matter. The Normans required all
grain to be ground at the lord of the manor’s mill and
not within individual households, which obviously gave
power to the lord and his manor. The custom gradually
lapsed and the corn mills that survived into the 18th and
19th century were often converted for textiles and other
uses.
After a further 2km, the Dee joins the Rawthey, by
the narrow Abbot Holme Bridge.
Combe Scar, with the Howgills in the distance
Whernside from the Occupation Road
Dentdale from Combe Scar, with Great Knoutberry Hill in the distance
The Rawthey from the Dee 91
The Rawthey from the Dee
B
eyond a bridge for the old Lowgill-Clapham railway
line, the Rawthey passes near Brigflatts, a building
invariably described as the oldest Quaker meetinghouse
in northern England (a rather odd claim as ordinary
farmhouses were used as meetinghouses). Brigflatts was
built in 1675, when Quakers were still being persecuted
and meeting surreptitiously. Whether Brigflatts was
overtly declared to be a Quaker meetinghouse in 1675,
I don’t know, but as George Fox stayed there in 1677
its function could hardly have been a secret. Today its
peaceful sturdiness seems to embody some of the tenets
of Quakerism although the earlier Brigflatts probably
did so better, as until 1881 there was a soil floor across
which water from the nearby pond flowed.
Brigflatts inspired the greatest work of the
Newcastle-born, modernist poet Basil Bunting (19001985), who described himself as having been “brought
up entirely in a Quaker atmosphere” but who was not a
Quaker himself. The poem Briggflatts, written in 1966,
is described by the Oxford Companion to English
Literature as “long, semi-autobiographical and deeply
Northumbrian” (although Brigflatts was never in
Northumbria).
After passing another Hebblethwaites and the
Holme Open Farm, the Rawthey is joined by Haverah
Beck, which runs past Ingmire Hall in the narrow finger
of land between the Rawthey and the Lune. Ingmire Hall
was the seat of the Otway family from the 16th century
or earlier. Sir John Otway was an eminent lawyer during
the Civil War (1642-51) and, as a Roman Catholic, was
sympathetic to the problems of the Quakers and provided
them with valuable legal advice. The hall passed through
the female side to the Upton family of Cornwall. After
acquiring two hyphens, a descendant, Mrs Florence
Upton-Cottrell-Dormer, became a benefactress to
Sedbergh, donating Queen’s Gardens and the cemetery.
Beyond Middleton Bridge, the Rawthey, at last,
reaches the Lune.
Brigflatts
Two views from the same spot by the Rawthey, as it approaches the Lune:
Above: North to the Howgills. Below: South to Middleton Fell.
CHAPTER 6:
Middleton Fell
94 Chapter 6: Middleton Fell
ve r
Ri
Hall Beck
al
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l Be
▲ Brown Knott
let
o
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Killington •
Rawthey
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es
Wr
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wa
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Mi
Burns Beck
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•
Barbon Beck
Be c
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▲ Crag Hill
Ay
A683
Barbon
Sh o
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Mansergh •
Calf
Top ▲
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Millhouse Beck
dale Gill
Ash
Old Town •
• Gawthrop
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Ba
rki
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Riv
er Lune
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Rigmaden •
Stockdal
▲ Combe Top
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Lune from the Rawthey ... 95
T
The Lune from the Rawthey ...
he Lune and the Rawthey meet as the arms of a Y
to form a deep pool and then proceed south. The
rivers are of comparable size, as the catchment
areas of the Lune up to this point and the Rawthey are
much the same. The headwaters of the Rawthey on
Baugh Fell, Wild Boar Fell and Whernside are higher
than those of the Lune on Green Bell but the western
branch took precedence because, I assume, it was the
obvious continuation of the lower Lune for early Britons
travelling north towards what we now call the Lune
Gorge. At all events, the Lune is now established as a
mature river and flows more sedately as the valley opens
out. Beyond a wide curve, the Lune is joined by Hall
Beck from the west and Middleton Hall Beck from the
east.
Hall Beck begins life in the marshes on New Park near
Lily Mere. New Park is a wilderness area of heather and
bracken, with small islands of conifer plantations. It is an
area of rare flowers: well, most flowers seem rare to me,
for I can only identify the bluebell, daffodil and perhaps
a dozen others. Outside that set I have to pick the flower
and take it home to look up in a book. No, of course not:
I take a photograph. The flower shown on the following
page is, I believe, a hybrid of the heath spotted orchid
and common spotted orchid, and therefore probably not
rare at all, although very pretty, to my inexpert eyes.
Hall Beck runs beside the Old Scotch Road, the
drove road that left us at Low Borrowbridge, and by
Three Mile House, a drover’s service stop. It then drops
down through Springs Wood to Killington, a village
whose size today does not reflect its past importance.
Not long ago, Killington had a school and a pub,
as well as the still-active All Saints Church. Killington
Hall half-survives. The older part is in ruins but the part
Above: The Rawthey (from the right) joins the Lune
(from the middle distance).
Two pages before: Middleton Fell at Brown Knott.
Killington Hall
Orchid on New Park, Killington
dated 1640 (and 1803 and 2003)
is still occupied. It used to belong
to the Pickering family and also
passed through the hands of the
Morlands (of Capplethwaite) and
Uptons (of Ingmire). The front
door bears the black horse of the
Ingmire coat of arms.
The history of our old halls
is all well and good but I like
to know what the halls are up
to nowadays, which, short of
knocking on the door and asking,
may be hard to determine. But,
in the case of Killington Hall,
through stumbling across it on the
web, I deduce that it is the base
for Farm-Smart, which organises
specialist exhibitions and events
for the serious farmer, a suitable
kind of meta-farming activity, I
suppose.
Today, the road to Killington
from Three Mile House has grass
in the middle, which is always a
good sign. Killington Park to the north and Killington
Common to the south are no longer on the map but the
name remains familiar through the Killington Reservoir
and the M6 service station. The old common, now called
Park Hill, provides scenery that is not typical of Loyne,
with hummocky little hills and rocky outcrops. It is
noticed only because of its prominent aerial and is rarely
visited although much of it is CRoW land providing good
views of the Lune valley and the Howgills. You could
explore it from the disused Hills Quarry, south of Three
Mile House, but wait for a dry spell out of late summer
in order to avoid the bogs and bracken that otherwise
make it difficult terrain.
Across the road from Hills Quarry is a gate giving
access to a footpath around Burns Beck Moss Nature
Reserve, owned by Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Up to 6m of
peat now fill an old upland tarn, providing a raised mire
habitat, with areas of grassland, reed bed and willow
shrubs. These support a large variety of plants (including
sixteen species of sphagnum moss), insects and birds
(such as reed bunting and sedge warbler). Despite man’s
determined efforts to ruin the site – by cutting the peat,
straightening the beck, digging drainage channels,
The Lune from the Rawthey ... 97
planning to create a reservoir,
building dams and weirs to slow
the beck, removing them, putting
them back – the reserve now
appears to be a natural habitat, in
safe hands.
Naturalists cannot, however,
rest on their willow and sphagnum
moss: man is still determined
to challenge nature. In 2008
planning permission was given for
six wind turbines on the hill to the
southwest of the nature reserve.
Maybe the flora and fauna of the
reserve will be unaffected by the
turbines but certainly no human
visitor could continue to consider
the reserve a retreat from the 21st
century.
Middleton Hall Beck is also
named after a hall but unlike Hall
Beck has the courtesy to tell us
which one, which is as well as
there are two halls on its short
length. The higher, Beckside Hall,
was the birthplace of the Sir John Otway of Ingmire Hall
we met earlier. The lower, Middleton Hall, is the more
interesting. From the 14th to the 17th century it was the
manorial home of the esteemed Middleton family. Their
manor was large and dispersed (like the the parish of
Middleton today). The Middleton men distinguished
themselves mainly through their military activities and
in due course also extinguished themselves. The male
line died out, leaving a sister with the familiar name
of Mrs Hebblethwaite as the last surviving heir in the
1690s.
The extinction of the Middletons was hastened by
the Civil War, which wrought havoc along this stretch
of the Lune. Like all the halls and castles along the
valley, Middleton Hall was a royalist stronghold but
was unfortunately not strong enough. After the war,
Middleton Hall was never rebuilt. As a result, the
remains of Middleton Hall provide a good illustration of
medieval, fortified, domestic architecture. The high, 1m
thick wall used to enclose an inner and outer courtyard.
The damage to the wall is supposed to have been caused
by Cromwell’s cannon balls. There was also a gatehouse
and probably a chapel.
Middleton Hall
Cairn on Middleton Fell
The Lune at Low Waterside
Stockdale Beck
S
tockdale Beck gathers much of the water from the
hinterland of Middleton Fell, via Luge Gill, Wrestle
Gill and Thirnbeck Gill, running from Calf Top (609m),
the highest point of the fell. Middleton Fell is, like
the Howgills, west of the Dent Fault and has similar
topography. It has rolling grassy slopes but with more
heather, higher up, and bracken, lower down, than the
Howgills. The bedrock seems closer to the surface,
judging by the exposures on paths and the occasional
outcrops.
Above the pastures, Middleton Fell is all CRoW
land but, although the slopes in Dentdale and Barbondale
have their excitements, in the 15 sq km to the west of
the ridge wall the OS map marks nothing apart from
two sets of grouse butts and, by the western wall, seven
sheepfolds. Nonetheless, Middleton Fell is excellent
walking country because of the terrain and the views it
affords of the surrounding hills. As you walk the ridge
heading southeast and then southwest, the Howgills,
Wild Boar Fell, Baugh Fell, Rise Hill, Great Knoutberry
Hill, Whernside, Crag Hill and the top of Ingleborough
parade before you. To the west there is the Lakeland
skyline and from Calf Top the Lune estuary and
Morecambe Bay glints ahead.
Emerging from Luge Gill, Stockdale Beck runs
under High Stockdale Bridge, which is a Scheduled
Ancient Monument, and Low Stockdale Bridge, by the
Swan Inn, where there is a milestone. These simple facts
bear some interpretation. That the High Bridge, over the
narrow, quiet lane called the High Road, is the ancient
monument, rather than the Low Bridge, over the A683,
suggests that, in olden times, the lane was the more
important route. This is supported by the fact that most
of the old farmsteads, such as Ullathorns (which bears a
date of 1617), Tossbeck and Borwens, are reached from
the High Road rather than from the A683.
Stockdale Beck 99
The Swan Inn milestone is one of nine between
Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale, a complete set, which is
unusual. They are all in situ, although some are suffering
from neglect. Milestones were made compulsory on
turnpike roads in 1744. The A683 was made a turnpike
road in 1762, to run from Kirkby Stephen to Greta
Bridge, where it joined the 1751 Richmond-Lancaster
turnpike. The last house on the A684 before the A683
turning is called Toll Bar and south of Casterton there is
a fine Toll Bar Cottage, a listed building.
High Stockdale Bridge
A683 milestone near the Swan Inn
Walk 13: Middleton Fell
Starting point: A lay-by on the east side of the A683, just north of where it swings away from the line of the Roman road, at
Jordan Lane (631892).
Walk south a short distance and cross a field to join the road east to Fellside (demolished and rebuilt in 2007). Beyond
Fellside you are on the open fell and will probably see nobody for the next three hours or so. There are many tracks but follow
one east to reach the ridge near Brown Knott, for a view of Sedbergh and the Howgills beyond.
Follow the ridge wall southeast. Above Combe Scar there is a new slab stile in the wall that is worth crossing for a short
detour to peek at the scar and gain a bird’s-eye view of Dent. Return by the stile.
Continue round the ridge, with a continuously evolving panorama of hills, eventually heading southwest, to reach Calf Top.
From Calf Top, turn at right angles right, walking slightly north of west. It is important to take the correct ridge. Aim for the aerial
that can be seen across the Lune valley on Park Hill. You need to reach the wall where there is a thin wood alongside Brow Gill.
(If you swing too far south you may be tempted to head for Mill House, where the OS map shows an apparent exit from CRoW
land. There are however a few metres of adamantly private land separating CRoW land from the public footpath. Which is a pity.
If you go too far north you may as well continue back the way you came, past Fellside.)
Follow the wall north for 200m to reach a gate (at 642868) where a sign says that a permissive path begins. This path goes
by Brow Gill, north along the old railway line for 300m, and then by Stockdale Beck to reach the quiet High Road.
Walk north for 500m to Middleton Hall Bridge, with the hall to your right. Cross the A683 and take the path across the field
and between Low Waterside and the Lune. Continue on this path, which eventually rises through a wood to the A683.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk to Brown Knott. Now head southwest over pathless ground to reach the wall corner
where Luge Gill leaves CRoW land. Follow the wall at the boundary of CRoW land for 1.5 km until you reach the gate (at
642868) where the sign indicates the start of the permissive path. Then return to the lay-by as for the long walk.
The Lune from Stockdale Beck ...
O
n a hill south of the Church of Holy Ghost (that’s
what its sign says) stands a column nearly 2m
high carved with the letters M P LIII. This is a Roman
milestone indicating that this point is 53 Roman miles
from, it is presumed, Carlisle. This provokes speculation.
Was this apparently unremarkable point special in some
way? Did it mark a junction in the Roman highways?
Or were there perhaps 52 other milestones, now all lost,
between here and Carlisle?
Also carved on the column (in Latin) are the words
“Restored from the soil by Giles Moore 1836”, which
seems a clear admission to an act of vandalism, for
the said Giles Moore obviously knew the significance
of what he had found. For some reason, he re-erected
the column 200m east of where he found it, where the
Roman road is thought to have run.
After a long meander the Lune is joined beyond
Treasonfield by Black Beck, which is the product of
many becks that hurry off the western slopes of Castle
Knott before crossing the quietest High Road in the
country and then flowing gently over green pastures
to the Lune. Ashdale Gill is the largest of these becks,
running in a deep gully past the Three Little Boys, which
are upright slabs about 1m high.
There are remains of an ancient homestead near
Borwens, with roughly circular ramparts 30m in
diameter. Borwens itself has an interesting old barn,
ornately dated 1718. These datestones, usually placed
above main entrances, were fashionable when stone
buildings began to replace impermanent dwellings in
the 17th and 18th centuries. Apart from the date, there is
usually a triangle of letters: husband and wife initials
below and family name initial above.
Meanwhile, on the anonymous but rich, green
slopes above the west bank are two of Loyne’s rural
estates, Rigmaden and Mansergh. The architect George
Webster of Kendal built Rigmaden Park in the 1820s for
Christopher Wilson, a banker of that town. Wilson was
known as a breeder of turf ponies, which are derived
from fell ponies and intended for racing. His grandson,
Christopher Wyndham Wilson, continued the tradition so
successfully that the breed became known as the Wilson
Pony (it is now called the Hackney Pony and considered
the world’s best harness pony). He was also High Sheriff
of Westmorland and a noted wrestler, which sounds a
useful combination.
The Roman milestone near Hawking Hall
Above Rigmaden Park is Kitmere, a reservoir for
Rigmaden Farm. The lake and its boathouse are difficult
to see for they are shrouded by hundreds of thick, high
rhododendrons. These led to an interesting test case. At
first, the Kitmere region was mapped as CRoW land but,
after appeal, it was agreed that the rhododendrons meant
that the land did not meet the legal definition of ‘moor’.
As is their custom, the rhododendrons are spreading
over the surrounding land so perhaps it too will need to
be excluded soon.
Directly below Rigmaden Park is the relatively
new, metal Rigmaden Bridge. This is a favourite put-in
spot for canoeists, who can paddle 10km downstream,
round sweeping bends, by shingle islands and beaches,
and over relatively gentle rapids to Kirkby Lonsdale.
Before attempting this, you should read the long list
of conditions helpfully displayed at the bridge by the
The Lune from Stockdale Beck ... 101
British Canoe Union: the first, for example,
says that it must be within the months from
November to March.
Christopher Wilson took over the
manor of Mansergh, a name that appears
in the Domesday Book and that is still the
parish name. St Peter’s Church was built
in 1880, with an oddly shaped tower, to
replace an old chapel in an isolated location
overlooking the Lune valley and Middleton
Fell. It is directly below the village of Old
Town, on the Old Scotch Road.
The largest building in Old Town is the
gaunt Terry Bank, which bears an enigmatic
datestone reading “EC 1542-1910”. The
Westmorland Church Notes record the
death of an “Edward Conder of Terry Bank”
seven times between 1542 and 1843. It is
unlikely that any of the present building
dates from the 16th century: the central part
shows a date of 1846. Nearby is the rather
attractive Terrybank Tarn. Old documents
say that the beck from this tarn powered
Kirkby Lonsdale’s mills although this is
now doubted.
Mansergh Hall, which is a farm
specialising in organic lamb and sausages,
is to the south, and directly below the hall
the Lune is supplemented by the substantial
tributary of Barbon Beck.
Top: Kitmere.
Middle: Old Town.
Bottom: Terrybank Tarn.
Barbon Beck
B
arbon Beck flows for 10km through the magnificent
valley of Barbondale, with the steep scree and grass
slopes below Calf Top to the west and the less steep,
peaty moorland below Crag Hill (682m) to the east. The
beginnings of Barbon Beck are interesting to explore
although what exactly is seen depends upon the amount
of recent rain. Normally, the beck appears to arise
hesitantly as Barkin Beck, 3km within the Yorkshire
Dales boundary, beside the road to Dentdale. Before
reaching the boundary it usually disappears and restarts
a few times. Our suspected explanation for this is
confirmed by an examination of the Short Gill tributary,
which forms the Dales boundary from Crag Hill.
Short Gill runs contentedly in a deep gorge of grey
slate, stained brown with peat, over a series of waterfalls
until, 100m above Barkin Beck, it crosses a clear ridge
of limestone and enters a canyon that is eerily silent. All
the water disappears through the limestone. The line of
limestone continues on the eastern slopes of Barbondale
but there is no limestone to be seen on the western slopes,
the grey scree being of the Silurian slate that we saw in
the Howgills. The transition from limestone to slate can
be clearly seen in the walls by the roadside, from the
white-grey limestone to the north to the dark-grey slate
to the south.
We are on the continuation of the Dent Fault, as you
may have anticipated. Here, the upheavals of 300m years
ago turned the limestone beds into a roughly vertical
position and today Short Gill provides the best examples
in England of caves formed in vertical limestone. About
200m south of Short Gill Bridge, a large resurgence
from under a limestone outcrop joins Barkin Beck,
which is usually dry at this point. This I assume to be
the lost waters of Short Gill, which therefore ought to be
regarded as the major source of Barbon Beck, which is
at last properly established.
The beck here is a favourite haunt of the wren, which
we tend to think of as a bird of the garden and woodland.
They delight in flitting in and out of the crevices and
Right: Barbondale from Barbon Low Fell.
Below: The head of Barbondale.
Barbon Beck 103
Crag Hill from Calf Top, with a glimpse of Whernside to the left and Ingleborough to the right
small caves around the rocks at the beck’s edge, as befits
its proper name of troglodytes troglodytes.
To the east, above the limestone outcrops, not visible
from Barbon Beck but prominent from Calf Top, a large
area has been set aside for heather, perhaps to provide a
home for grouse. On visiting in 2006 I was pleased to
see this had been successful in attracting black grouse.
Black grouse have become extinct in many counties of
England, including, it is believed, Lancashire, which is
only a few kilometres away. In 1998 there were only
800 breeding males left in England. The North Pennines
Black Grouse Recovery Project reported that the English
population of male black grouse increased to about
1200 by 2006, although the bird is still on the red list
of endangered species and in fact declined again after
the wet summers of 2007 and 2008. The male black
grouse or blackcock is much too fine a bird to shoot,
with its glossy, purple-black plumage, red eye patches,
and colourful mating displays. But since writing the
above words I have heard no reports of black grouse in
Barbon Beck 105
The wood near Barbon Manor
Barbondale: I am increasingly suspecting that I imagined
it, although this scarcely seems possible.
Running north to south across the heather and moor
of Barbon High Fell is a line of disused coal pits, barely
detectable on the ground. This again indicates that
Barbondale crosses a geological line. Below the popular
picnic site at Blindbeck Bridge, Barbon Beck is joined
by Aygill (or Blind Beck), which has a mildly curious
property. As it crosses limestone, some of its water falls
into the Aygill pothole: the water underground runs
south to emerge on Leck Fell to join Leck Beck; the
water above ground runs north to join Barbon Beck.
Barbon Beck then runs through woodland, where
there is a pleasant footpath passing below Barbon
Manor. The path provides no glimpse of the manor but
from afar it can be picked out as a white island within the
dark plantation. This is one building that cannot be said
to blend unobtrusively into its surroundings. Barbon
Manor was built in the French Renaissance style for
the Kay-Shuttleworth family in 1863. James Kay was
a doctor and social reformer known for his
treatment of cholera in Manchester in 1832,
after which he wrote an influential book, The
Moral and Physical Condition of the Working
Classes Employed in the Cotton Manufacture
in Manchester. In 1842 Kay married Janet
Shuttleworth, daughter of Robert Shuttleworth
of Gawthorpe Hall, Burnley, who had long
owned land in Barbondale. Sir James KayShuttleworth, as he became, retired here in
1872 after his wife died.
Since 1910 the curving drive up to Barbon
Manor has been the site for the Barbon Sprint
Hillclimb, which is part of the British Hillclimb
Championship. The aim is to drive a vehicle
up the 800m course as fast as possible. While
no doubt a challenge for mechanics, it seems
to be a sport of great simplicity and (I imagine)
great noise.
Below the manor Barbon Beck passes
behind the neat village of Barbon. Barbon is ancient,
being listed in the Domesday Book as Berebrune, but
hides its heritage. St Bartholomew’s Church was built in
1893, on the site of a 17th century chapel, all sign of which
was thereby removed. It was built in the perpendicular
style by the Lancaster-based firm of Paley & Austin,
which had a national reputation for its ecclesiastical
buildings.
There is a distinctive quality about the buildings of
Edward Paley and Hubert Austin, featuring
majestic towers, recessed spires and well-lit
naves, but, according to The Victorian Society,
“The later work of the Austin and Paley era
took on a squared-off Gothic look and became
stereotyped and conventionalised … There
was a loss of zest though still much to admire”.
Since Paley died in 1895 this may be thought
to apply to the Barbon church. But probably
the quotation is referring not to the aforementioned gentlemen but to the firm of Paley
& Austin, which continued, through their sons,
until 1942.
More recently, new buildings have hidden
traces of the Lowgill-Clapham railway line and
station, which only closed in 1966. The 17th
century Barbon Inn still survives, however,
and the sheep still graze, if rather tweely, in
the paddock by the memorial cross.
Barbon Manor
Below Hodge Bridge, Barbon Beck passes under no
less than four functional footbridges that enable golfers
to get from one part of Kirkby Lonsdale golf course to the
other. These bridges lack the charm and, I am sure, the
durability of the narrow packhorse bridge by Beckfoot
Farm. It is natural to wonder where the packhorses were
heading: did they use the two bridleway fords across the
Lune marked on the map? Today the fords seem usable
only very rarely.
St Bartholomew’s Church, Barbon
CHAPTER 7:
Middle Lunesdale
and Leck Fell
108 Chapter 7: Middle Lunesdale and Leck Fell
Crag Hill ▲
on Beck
Barb
•
Barbon
S
• Whelprigg
walk 14
▲ Brownthwaite
• Casterton
River L
▲ Gragareth
Be
ck
Roman fort
15
k
• Leck
Over
Burrow
•*
walk
Lec
Devil’s
Bridge
une
• S*
se
▲ Green Hill
ll
Gi
* Easegill Caverns
Ruskin’s
View *
Kirkby Lonsdale
Ea
▲ Great Coum
• Cowan Bridge
A6
5
A68
3
• Nether Burrow
River Gre
ta
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Lune from Barbon Beck ... 109
A
The Lune from Barbon Beck ...
kilometre from the Barbon Beck junction the
Lune passes a badly eroded west bank, just before
Underley Bridge. The inordinate ornateness of
this bridge reflects its limited functionality, for it was
built in 1872 (or 1875, depending which datestone on
the bridge you believe) to enable gentry and their lady
folk to travel in their coaches from the Underley estate to
the Barbon railway station. The bridge was built for Lord
Kenlis, later the Earl of Bective, MP for Westmorland,
whose father, Lord Bective married Amelia, the daughter
of William Thompson, of the wealthy Westmorland
Thompson family, who was a Lord Mayor of London
and previous owner of the Underley estate. The bridge
is adorned with battlements, gargoyles and a motto
– consequitur quodcunque petit, that is, one attains
whatever one seeks (Barbon railway station, I assume).
Before the Lune sweeps south under a dramatic cliff
a small beck enters on the left. This has run off Barbon
Low Fell through Grove Gill and past Whelprigg, another
of Loyne’s fine country houses. The Whelprigg estate
belonged to the Gibson family, for whom Whelprigg was
built in 1834, in an imposing Victorian style. In the fields
by the drive to the house is an ancient cross, on the line
of the Roman road, and to the north six trees that seem
uniquely honoured by having their types specified on
the OS map (four ash and two oak), presumably because
they mark the parish boundary.
To the south of Whelprigg runs the old track of
Fellfoot Road, where it is difficult to turn a blind eye to
the Goldsworthy Sheepfolds (as we have done so far):
there are sixteen of them, all created in 2003.
The Lune next runs by the elegant mansion of
Underley Hall. This was rebuilt in 1826 in the Gothic
style and later embellished and enlarged by the Earl
of Bective. The Earl and his successor at Underley,
Lord Cavendish-Bentinck (MP for South Nottingham),
who had married the Earl’s daughter, Olivia, and, of
course, the Countess and Lady, lived in the style that
Two pages before: The view from Brownthwaite.
Below: Underley Bridge.
The Goldsworthy Sheepfolds were created between 1996
and 2003 by the environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy
during a project funded by Cumbria County Council. The
46 folds were built from existing folds that were derelict
or built anew where they were indicated on old maps.
Goldsworthy uses natural materials to create his art forms
and “feels the energy from nature and transcends that energy
into art form”. Each sheepfold was thus reinvigorated by
this new energy and re-connected to the farming traditions
of Cumbria. Inspiration, however, seems rather thin along
Fellfoot Road: all sixteen folds are similar, with a large
boulder enclosed in a small fold.
It is more in the spirit of the project if the sculptures
are appreciated by encountering them serendipitously and
by being momentarily confused by the strangely modern,
possibly functional, structures. (On our journey so far we
have passed Goldsworthy Sheepfolds at Raisbeck (see
page 22), Scout Green, Bretherdale, Cautley Crag, and
Barbondale.) However, now that the project is complete
and the folds are listed in leaflets and on websites,
inevitably people will set out purposefully to tick them off.
Whether they warrant such explicit attention I leave artconnoisseurs to judge.
befits such names. At one time, the estate employed 163
people, including 26 gardeners. The hall was known
for its shooting parties, a regular visitor to which was
the young Harold Macmillan, future Prime Minister. In
the Annals of Kirkby Lonsdale (1930), Lord CavendishBentinck was described as “a magnificent specimen
of an English country gentleman”. Perhaps the author,
Alexander Pearson, was one of the 163 - at all events,
he is unlikely to have been neutral to the influence of the
Underley owners in the Kirkby Lonsdale region. On Lady
Cavendish-Bentinck’s death in 1939, the estate passed
to a cousin, Madeleine Pease. Since 1976 Underley
Hall has been a residential school for up to sixty young
people with emotional and behavioural difficulties but
the estate is still owned by the Pease family.
To the east is the old village of Casterton. It may not
be as old as its name suggests since there is no evidence
of a Roman castle on the site but it is old enough to
have been included in the Domesday Book. It is a small
village of class, with scarcely a house lacking style. It
has all the essentials of life: a school, a church, a garagecum-shop, a pub and a golf course.
Underley Hall
Casterton School is an independent
boarding and day school for 320 girls (with
20 lucky? boys as day pupils). The school
began in the 1830s when Low Wood School,
which the Rev. William Carus Wilson had
established at Tunstall to train girls to be
servants, and the Clergy Daughters’ School
(of which, more shortly) that he’d started
at Cowan Bridge were both transferred to
Casterton. To help the clergy daughters
feel more at home, he had the Holy Trinity
Church built. And to help himself feel at
home, he moved into the neo-classical
Casterton Hall, which had been built in
1812 for his father.
Below Casterton Hall stands the 17th
century Kirfit Hall, with what looks like
a peel tower but is apparently a staircase
tower. Because of a planning dispute, one
of its barns has been garishly painted, in order to enliven
Ruskin’s View, which is a viewpoint at the top of a steep
bank of the Lune 1km south.
Near Ruskin’s View is Cockpit Hill, a 40m diameter,
overgrown mound that is thought to be the site of an
old motte and bailey castle, and behind it is Kirkby
Lonsdale’s Church of St Mary the Virgin, a substantial
edifice with many notable features. For most old
settlements, the church is the largest and most important
structure and it therefore becomes a focus for passing
visitors, even for those who rarely venture into churches.
Here, there is much of non-specialist
interest, both outside and inside the church.
Outside, the visitor may contemplate the
self-closing mechanism of the churchyard
gates, the oddly placed clocks on the tower,
the intriguing gazebo painted by Turner in
1818, and the pillar in memory of five young
women burned to death in 1820. Inside the
church, there’s some fine Jacobean wood
carving and on the northern side of the
nave there are three large Norman arches,
two of which have distinctive diamond
patterns. Some doorways and part of the
tower are also Norman. The church is
therefore at least as old as the 12th century
and is probably of Saxon origin, although
there has been much rebuilding, notably
in the 18th century and again in 1866.
Toll Bar Cottage, Casterton
Ruskin commented in 1875 that the church “has been
duly patched, botched, plastered and primmed up; and
is kept as tidy as a new pin”, in contrast to the bank of
what we now call Ruskin’s View, which was a “waste of
filth, town drainage, broken saucepans, tannin and millrefuse”.
Passing through the churchyard, we enter Kirkby
Lonsdale, the most desirable location in Loyne, or so
estate agents tell us. It lies by the A65, midway between
the Lakes and the Dales, and does not try too hard to
detain tourists travelling between the two. The narrow
main street has shops and restaurants of refinement, even
St Mary’s Church, Kirkby Lonsdale
Ruskin’s View is the only point along the Lune that the
Ordnance Survey considers worthy of a viewpoint symbol.
I’d prefer that OS maps kept to matters of fact rather than
opinion. For what it’s worth, my opinion is that the view is
OK, but neither high enough to provide an extensive view
of the Lune valley, with its fine surrounding hills receding
into the distance, nor low enough to enable an appreciation
of the sights and sounds of the riverside. Instead, we see one
bland bend of the Lune, with a backdrop of Brownthwaite
and Middleton Fell, among the least impressive of Loyne’s
hills.
The viewpoint is called Ruskin’s View, in thanks to
the art critic and thinker John Ruskin, whose opinion was
that “Here are moorland, sweet river and English forest at
their best … [the view is] one of the loveliest in England
and therefore in the world”. According to the Cumbrian
Directory, Ruskin said this in the 1870s after seeing
J.M.W. Turner’s 1818 painting of the view. One might
query Ruskin’s status as an art critic if he really considered
this view comparable to the one from his own window at
Brantwood, looking over Coniston Water.
Ruskin was a fervent promoter and protector of
Turner’s reputation. So much so that art historians
had always believed his statement in 1858 that he had
destroyed a set of erotic paintings by Turner, not wanting
his reputation to be sullied. However, the paintings were
found in 2005. Ruskin himself was fond of young girls. So
that’s two reputations sullied.
My point is that we should not just follow the opinions
of others – eminent aesthetes such as Turner or Ruskin,
or the OS, or, certainly, me. It is better to form your own
judgements about this and other views of the Lune.
trendiness (as epitomised by the renaming of the Green
Dragon as the Snooty Fox), and there is a profusion
of hanging baskets and other floral decorations. The
market square, however, has an unstylish crown-shaped
structure, now serving as a bus shelter, which used to
have a sort of dome with a cross atop. It was donated in
1905 by the vicar of Kirkby Lonsdale, whose generosity
could presumably not be declined.
The ambience is suburban, rather than rural, for,
apart from Ruskin’s View, Kirkby Lonsdale is inwardlooking, focused on its own business, with little outlook
onto the surrounding fields. The older buildings are
of limestone, which outcrops locally. Apart from the
church and pubs, there are few buildings earlier than
the 18th century and on the outskirts many standard 20th
century houses.
Although there are few features of antiquity,
Kirkby Lonsdale is old, appearing in the Domesday
Book as Cherkeby Lownesdale and being granted its
market charter in 1227. The manor of Kirkby Lonsdale,
including the church, was given to St Mary’s Abbey
in York in the 1090s and after the Dissolution of the
Monasteries the church rights were granted to Trinity
College, Cambridge. Kirkby Lonsdale used to play
up to its history, without going back quite that far, by
holding a Victorian Fair in September, with participants
in period dress. This tradition was ended in 2008, being
considered to have outlived its usefulness.
Up to the 19th century there was a series of mills by
what is now called Mill Brow. From the market square
Jingling Lane drops down towards the Lune. The lane
meets up with the footpath that proceeds from
below Ruskin’s View alongside the Lune, where
there was a millrace for further mills. Anyone
walking along this path will notice the flood debris
in the tree branches above their head, indicating the
torrents that sometimes rage through this narrow
valley. All the more surprising, then, that the
elegant, three-arched Devil’s Bridge has withstood
the Lune for five centuries, or even longer. The date
of the bridge is unknown but, to be on the safe side,
it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Some think
it to be Roman, but this seems unlikely; others can
detect the same Norman hands as built the church;
others refer to records of repairs in 1275 and 1365
Left: The other view from Ruskin’s View, looking
to The Island.
The Top 10 bridges in Loyne
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Devil’s Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale
Batty Moss (Ribblehead) Viaduct
Loyn Bridge, Hornby
Lowgill Viaduct
Lune Aqueduct, Lancaster Canal
Skerton Bridge, Lancaster
Crook of Lune Bridge, Lowgill
Artengill Viaduct, Dentdale
Lune’s Bridge, Tebay
Waterside Viaduct
(which show only that there was a bridge here but not
necessarily this one); others consider the form of the
arches to be late 15th century at the earliest.
The name of the bridge is more recent, for until
the 19th century it was simply the Kirkby Lonsdale
Bridge. The uncertainty about the origin of the bridge’s
remarkable design encourages thoughts of a supernatural
agency. The legend is, in brief, that a woman entered a
Faustian deal with the devil to get the bridge built and
then sacrificed her dog to meet the conditions of the
deal.
For many people, hurrying between the Lakes and
the Dales and pausing at the Devil’s Bridge, this is the
only glimpse they will have of the Lune. It is a pity
that quiet contemplation of the bridge and the scenery
is difficult. There are normally crowds milling around
the snack bars and over the bridge and, at weekends,
motorcyclists, canoeists, picnickers, and maybe even
divers off the bridge. If we could but focus upon it
we’d appreciate the unique beauty and elegance of
the old bridge, 12m high, with ribbed, almost semicircular arches, two of 17m and one of 9m span. The
breakwaters continue to the parapet to provide refuges
in the roadway, which with a width of only 3.5m is too
narrow for modern vehicular traffic. Below, the Lune
swirls through sloping crags.
The Lune runs under the A65 at Stanley Bridge,
built in 1932 150m south of the Devil’s Bridge. Stanley
– that is, Oliver Stanley, MP for Westmorland, after
whom the bridge was named – does not compete with
the devil. Instead, the new bridge, with its off-yellow
Devil’s Bridge
colouring and bold single span, provides a strong, if
inelegant, contrast. Just south of Stanley Bridge the
Lune enters the county of Lancashire.
Below Kirkby Lonsdale the Lune is accompanied
by the Lune Valley Ramble, which continues, mainly
on its west bank, for 26km to Lancaster. Since the more
varied and major part of the Lune valley lies to the north
of Kirkby Lonsdale it should perhaps be called the
Lower Lune Valley Ramble. This may seem pedantic
but the Lune is often underrated because the remit of the
body most concerned with its support and promotion,
Lancaster City Council, seems to end at the county
border. Its 2009 brochure describes the Lune valley as
“a pocket-sized part of England” that runs for “15-20
miles between Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale”. Its
‘official Lune Valley visitor website’ similarly considers
the Lune valley to begin at Kirkby Lonsdale. So I’ve
managed to write over a hundred pages about a river that
has not existed until this point.
The Ramble is a fine walk, the part here being best
tackled on a bright morning with the sun sparkling on
the rippling surface, with distant views of Leck Fell,
Ingleborough and the Bowland Fells. South of the
bridges oystercatchers assemble in March on their way
to their nesting sites on the shingle of the Lune. These
birds of the lower Lune, easily recognised by their long,
straight, dark red bill, red legs, and black and white
colouring, are more often seen in small numbers, flying
fast, with a shrill call.
One kilometre from Kirkby Lonsdale the Lune
passes under the 130km Haweswater Aqueduct, which
transports up to 500 million litres of water every day
to Manchester. It was completed in 1955, 36 years after
permission for the controversial Haweswater Reservoir
had been granted.
Showing excessive concern for walkers’ safety,
there are warnings to keep on the landward side of a
small embankment for flood protection. I assume the
real intention is to keep us away from fishermen, but if
they are absent the river-edge is much the better place
to be.
The next significant tributary is Leck Beck, joining
from the east.
Walk 14: A Loop between Kirkby Lonsdale and Barbon
Starting point: Near the Devil’s Bridge (617783).
This is a walk along country lanes and tracks, passing a variety of rural houses and reaching no great height. There is the
chance to refuel in Barbon.
Head east, past the caravan park, towards Chapel House and then follow Chapelhouse Lane to High Casterton, passing the
golf course on your left. After the Old Manor, cross the junction, following the sign to Low Casterton. Turn right at the Holy
Trinity church towards Langthwaite.
Immediately after Langthwaite take the footpath south to Fellfoot Road, which you follow north, past some Goldsworthy
Sheepfolds, until it drops down to a road. Turn left at the road and walk to Fell Garth. Take the path north past Whelprigg to
Underfell, to drop into Barbon by the church. From Barbon, walk southwest along Scaleber Lane to Low Beckfoot. You could
take a short detour north to see the packhorse bridge at Beckfoot Farm. At Low Beckfoot take the path west to the Lune.
At the Lune turn south to follow the long bend past Underley Bridge and then swing back to join Lowfields Lane. Walk
east and take the path south, below Underley Grange, to the wood below Gildard Hill, with views on the way across the river
to Underley Hall. If you should, accidentally, of course, stray west from the path in the wood, you would have a view down the
steepest and highest Luneside bank.
The path continues south to Casterton Hall and then across the field to the A683, where it is best to turn left for 100m or so
(take care) and follow the track (Laitha Lane) south from Toll Bar Cottage. This returns you to the Devil’s Bridge if you turn right
at the end (or via a short cut through the caravan park on the right).
Short walk variation: For a short walk it is necessary to forego Barbon. Follow the long walk as far as the junction after the Old
Manor and then turn right for 1km, over the old railway line and past Fell Yeat, the home of Brownthwaite Hardy Plants, which
deals with speciality perennials. Turn left at Fellfoot Road and walk north for 1km past some Goldsworthy Sheepfolds. Then turn
west past Langthwaite and on to Casterton. Cross the A683 and walk through the school to pick up the footpath that goes south
past Casterton Hall. Follow the last part of the long walk back to the Devil’s Bridge.
Leck Beck 115
Leck Beck
T
he mature beck that gushes from the fellside at Leck
Beck Head emerges after an eventful and secretive
infancy. The waters that drain the southern slopes below
the fine ridge that arches from Crag Hill to Great Coum
and Gragareth form the becks of Aygill and Ease Gill,
which proceed normally enough over the high moorland
until they reach beds of limestone at about the 350m
contour, at which point they begin to disappear through
various potholes and caves.
We have flirted with potholes and caves in Dentdale
and Barbondale but a confession is now required. My
guiding principle has been to write only about what I
have seen, wherever possible, and this has led me to visit
every one of Loyne’s 1285 sq km – but I draw the line
at going under them as well. This is unfortunate because
potholes are one of the few things in Loyne for which
we can dust off our superlatives, as it is undoubtedly
England’s best potholing region. However, I cannot
imagine ever standing at the entrance to a pothole and
opting to spend the next few hours in the damp, dark,
dangerous depths when I could be striding the hills, with
fresh air in my lungs, the wind in my hair, a spring in
my step, and a view in all directions. I can appreciate the
physical, mental and scientific challenge of potholing
but I prefer to resist it.
Therefore, apart from modest forays into cave
entrances and the tourist trips into White Scar Caves,
Ingleborough Cave and Gaping Gill, all the potholes
and caves are unknown territory to me. The little that I
say about them is passed on, second hand, in good faith.
Those who wish to venture seriously (and there should
be no other way) into potholes should consult more
reliable first-hand sources.
The potholes into which Ease Gill disappears are
part of the Easegill Caverns, which form, according to
Natural England’s description of the Leck Beck Head
Catchment Area Site of Special Scientific Interest, the
longest cave system in Britain and the 11th longest in the
world. Some call it, or used to call it, the Three Counties
System, as it stretches from Aygill (in Cumbria) across
Leck Fell (in Lancashire) to Ireby Fell (on the North
Yorkshire border). The caves under Casterton Fell (from
Lancaster Hole, Bull Pot of the Witches and others) have
60km of connected passages and these have a flooded
connection to a further 12km under Leck Fell (from Lost
John’s Cave and others). An additional 12km of passage
under southern Leck Fell are, as yet, unconnected. An
idea that there would be an eastern link to the Kingsdale
The ridge to Gragareth from Great Coum
1. Ease Gill runs from the slopes of Great Coum ...
2. ... and gradually disappears through limestone ...
3. ... the bed becoming completely dry in places ...
4. ... though there’s usually a trickle at Cow Dub ...
5. ... below which the valley is dry and quiet ...
6. ... with eerie grottos and waterless waterfalls ...
Leck Beck 117
7. ... meanwhile the underground waters of
Ease Gill are exploring the Easegill Caverns, as
many potholers also do by, for example, entering
Lancaster Hole ...
8. ... and eventually, as the waters reach the
impermeable rock below the layer of limestone,
they re-emerge at Leck Beck Head near Ease Gill
Kirk to form Leck Beck.
Walk 15: Leck Fell, Gragareth and Great Coum
Starting point: The track near Bullpot Farm (663815).
This expedition provides a surface exploration of some potholes of the Easegill Caverns followed by a high-level ridge
walk.
From Bullpot Farm walk south 1km to cross a stile below Hellot Scales Barn. (In the very unlikely circumstance that Ease
Gill cannot be forded at this point, be sensible: abandon the suggested walk. Content yourself with a walk along the north bank
to view the rare sight of waterfalls in the Ease Gill valley and return to Bullpot Farm.)
Detour for 100m up the dry bed to view a chamber with a U-shaped (dry!) waterfall (see photograph left). Some people
call this Ease Gill Kirk but the name is properly applied to a less accessible but larger and more spectacular amphitheatre with
overhanging cliffs about 200m downstream from the stile. The Kirk (or Church, as it used to be called) is said to have been a
clandestine meeting place for Quakers. Returning to the stile, cross the bed of Ease Gill (leaving Cumbria for Lancashire) and
follow the footpath south. At a grassy slope a side-path allows a detour to see the real Ease Gill Kirk.
Leave the footpath before reaching a wall and head southeast across a field, viewing Big Meanie and Rumbling Hole en
route. Note the Three Men of Gragareth, the central group of a set of cairns, on the horizon as you cross the field. These are your
next objective. On reaching the road, take the track above Leck Fell House north for 100m and then scramble up to the Three
Men.
From the cairns, take a faint path east for 1km to the Gragareth trig point, and then continue for 150m to reach a wall (peer
over the wall into North Yorkshire). Walk north by the wall for 5km, passing Green Hill (628m, the highest point of Lancashire)
and the County Stone (the northernmost point of Lancashire) to reach Great Coum, from which there is an excellent view of the
Lakeland hills, the Howgills, the nearby Yorkshire Dales peaks, the lower Lune and Morecambe Bay.
Walk west by the wall to Crag Hill (1km) and continue southwest to Richard Man, a rather inconspicuous set of stones (a
further 1km). At this point walk south for 250m to a parallel wall, which you then follow southwest for 2km to reach the Bullpot
Farm track.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk as far as the track above Leck Fell House and then follow that track north for 2km.
Leave the track to follow the wall as it drops down to Ease Gill. Follow Ease Gill south for 1km until you reach a rather rickety
bridge. It is worth a short detour beyond the bridge to see Cow Dub. Return to cross the bridge and then follow the path northwest
for 1.5km back to Bullpot Farm.
caves seems to be dormant. To the west the cave system
is ended by the Dent Fault.
It must be galling to the Yorkshire Dales National
Park, renowned for its potholing, to find that its borders
exclude Britain’s longest cave system. The old county
border that ran from Gragareth to Great Coum and into
Barbondale neatly steals the Easegill Caverns from the
Yorkshire Dales. Perhaps this will be remedied by the
review of the National Park boundaries.
The details of this three-dimensional underworld
are complex to unravel but the cause of the cave system
is as we have seen before. Water runs off the shale and
sandstone upper slopes to sink at the limestone boundary,
to make its way underground to the impermeable lower
layer and eventually re-emerge, in this case at Leck
Beck Head. Normally the bed of Ease Gill is dry for 2km
above Leck Beck Head but in flood conditions the caves
fill and Ease Gill becomes a torrent. Leck Beck actually
emerges about 100m north of the present line of the bed
of Ease Gill.
On the surface there is the barest indication of the
wonders underneath. At Lancaster Hole, for example,
there is only a manhole cover to see, unless it happens
to be raised, in which case you can peer down the 35m
shaft. The discovery of Lancaster Hole in 1946, which
really began the exploration of the Easegill Caverns, has
entered potholing legend: a resting caver noticed the
grass moving more than the breeze warranted, inferred
that a draught was issuing from underground, and shifted
a few rocks to reveal the pothole.
As Leck Beck runs through Springs Wood, a natural
wood unlike the many conifer plantations in the area, it
passes below Castle Hill to the east. Here are the remains
of – well, what exactly? There appears to be a roughly
circular ditch, 100m in diameter, with gaps to the north
and south. Within the ditch, there is some unevenness
and a few piles of rocks but no real sign of any building
– certainly no castle. It probably enclosed a few Iron Age
settlements. One thing we can be sure of: whoever lived
here had an excellent view of the lower Lune valley.
Across Leck Beck at High Park are the remains of
ancient settlements, visible on the ground as earthworks
and jumbled lines of rocks. Archaeologists tell us that
they date from 300 AD or so. Even older is the Casterton
stone circle, which lies southwest of Brownthwaite
Pike and dates from the late Neolithic or early Bronze
Age (2000-600 BC). There are about eighteen stones,
none higher than 30cm and some sunk in the grass,
in a 20m-diameter circle. It is said that 1,800 finds,
including drinking vessels, flint arrowheads and a
bronze spearhead, have been made here. The circle is
not, however, an impressive sight. In the same field are
many large piles of rocks, the remains of thick walls,
which are rather more intriguing.
You cannot see Kirkby Lonsdale from the stone
circle, as you might have expected since the stone circle
is marked on the display at Ruskin’s View. However,
if you climb to the prominent cairn on Brownthwaite
Pike, you are rewarded with an excellent view of Kirkby
Lonsdale, with Morecambe Bay behind, the Lakes
skyline to the right and the middle reaches of the Lune
to the left.
The Lakes and Dales National Park boundaries are to be
reviewed by Natural England (the review was postponed
until a decision on a South Downs proposal was reached,
which it finally was in April 2009). It seems likely to
propose that the Dales be extended westward to include
the northern part of the Howgills, Middleton Fell, Leck
Fell and Wild Boar Fell and that the Lakes be extended
eastward to include Birkbeck Fells – in short, that the upper
Lune becomes a border between the two National Parks.
There are many factors involved in determining
National Parks, as they are legal entities with administrative
roles. One factor concerns their role in conservation. It is
assumed that ‘undesirable’ developments would not be
permitted within a National Park. Therefore, by extending
the boundaries, the area protected from such developments
would, it is hoped, be increased.
In a rational world boundaries would not be determined
by politics or history but by natural properties that give a
region its coherence. In our case, the Dent Fault suggests
that Wild Boar Fell and Leck Fell (but not the Howgills
and Middleton Fell) belong to the Dales. The characteristic
areas of the Lake District are on igneous rocks that differ
from Loyne’s sedimentary rocks, including the Shap Fells,
which are now within the Lake District National Park (but
if we follow this line of reasoning we might conclude that
the areas south of Windermere and Coniston don’t belong
in the National Park either!).
Geologically, the Shap Fells, Birkbeck Fells, the
Howgills and Middleton Fell form a homogeneous
region. Perhaps this region could be designated an Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty, for even the strongest
supporter could not claim it equal to the two National
Parks. It is, however, unlikely that areas already within the
National Parks (the Shap Fells and the southern Howgills)
will be excluded. Let’s leave it to the experts.
Leck Beck 119
The Leck Beck valley
Leck Beck runs by the village of Leck, which is
not the traditional cluster of stone cottages: it is not a
cluster at all. The ingredients – an old mill, parsonage,
church, and school – are there but they do not seem to be
integrated to make a community. An ignored triangular
field looks like it would make a fine village green –
perhaps it once was, for many houses here were burnt
down in the 1800s after a smallpox outbreak. Leck Hall,
which was rebuilt in the early 19th century and bought
by the Kay-Shuttleworth family in 1952, stands apart.
From this outpost Lord Charles Shuttleworth serves
as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, a post instituted by
Henry VIII to deal with local defence. Perhaps the need
to repel Yorkshire invaders explains all the noise of
shooting heard hereabouts. Today, the Lord Lieutenant’s
role is to represent the Queen at events in the county and
to prepare programmes for royal visits to Lancashire.
At Cowan Bridge, Leck Beck passes under an
overgrown five-arched bridge for the old LowgillClapham railway line. Cowan Bridge itself is bisected
by the busy A65. This is an ancient road along which
tolls were collected as early as the 16th century but
the traffic associated with the Yorkshire and Cumbria
woollen trade had died down by 1824, when the Brontë
sisters came. Cowan Bridge is now most remarked upon
because of its Brontë connection, excessively so, given
that it is the grim pestilence of the place that is recalled.
South of Leck Beck, on Woodman Lane, there is a
poultry farm that is surprisingly large for such a quiet rural
area. Perhaps the authorities, too, were surprised, for the
buildings had neither planning permission nor an IPPC
(Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) licence.
To avoid getting myself entangled in this legal dispute
I should clarify that ‘agricultural permitted development
tolerances’ allow a small amount of construction every
two years without planning permission. Lancaster City
Council refused a retrospective application in 2005, a
decision for which the council was later fined £87,000
as it was deemed unreasonable. Presumably this ensures
the future of Mayfield Chicks, if not the chicks.
Leck Beck next passes under Burrow Bridge,
whose two arches seem almost too low for the beck
The Brontë connection began when the Rev. Patrick
Brontë sent four of his five daughters to the Clergy
Daughters’ School opened by the Rev. William Carus
Wilson in Cowan Bridge in 1824. They were only there
for a year, illness forcing them back to Haworth. Maria and
Elizabeth died of tuberculosis in 1825, although Charlotte
and Emily did, of course, survive to write novels. All they
wrote whilst at Cowan Bridge, however, was “Dearest
father, please, please get us out of this place”.
Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography (1857) of Charlotte
Brontë painted a harsh picture of the Clergy Daughters’
School (Lowood of Jane Eyre, perhaps derived from
the Low Wood School we met at Casterton) and of the
Rev. Carus Wilson (Mr. Brocklehurst), so much so that
threatened legal action brought changes to the third edition.
To put the Brontë’s illnesses into context, child mortality
in the region was so high at the time that average life
expectancy was only 26 years.
A plaque on the wall of Brontë Cottage by the old
road bridge commemorates the Brontë sisters’ brief and
unhappy time at the Cowan Bridge school.
when it is in flood. In alcoves on the bridge there are
acknowledgements to the work of those who built the
bridge in 1733 – labourers (on the west) separated from
management (on the east).
The bridge is midway between Nether Burrow and
Over Burrow, which together yield the novel parish name
of Burrow-with-Burrow. At the former is the 18th century
coaching inn, the Highwayman Inn, which has recently
been refurbished and resurrected as a ‘Ribble Valley
Inn’, a geographically remarkable transmogrification.
Roman stonework in Over Burrow barn
If you walk to the gate at the drive of Burrow Hall
in Over Burrow and then 20m to the barn to the north
and look at the wall near the north end, about head high,
you will see a red sandstone block with carvings on it.
This is a remnant of Roman stonework and is all that can
be seen of the Roman fort that existed at Over Burrow
from the 1st to the 4th century.
The rest you must imagine. The gate to the hall
driveway is probably at the east entrance to the fort,
midway along the east wall. Burrow Hall itself, visible
up the drive, 140m away, is on the west wall of the fort.
The fort was roughly square, so the south wall was 70m
south of the drive, across the green field. The north wall
was similarly 70m north, where there are buildings now.
The fort thus enclosed about 2ha, enough space for a
thousand soldiers.
How do we know this, when there is so little to
see? The Roman’s Antonine Itinerary listed a fort
called Calacum 27 Roman miles from Bremetenacum
(Ribchester) and 30 Roman miles from Galava
(Ambleside) – in other words, here. In the past, Burrow
was regarded as a very old place and, not so long ago,
there was more evidence than there is today: William
Camden, in his great work Britannia (1610), the first
historical survey of Great Britain, wrote “… by divers
and sundry monuments exceeding ancient, by engraven
stones, pavements of square checker worke, peeces of
Roman coine, and by this new name Burrow, which with
us signifieth a Burgh, that place should seeme to bee of
great antiquity.”
Various excavations have been carried out,
particularly in the 1950s, to confirm the lines of the
walls and positions of the gates. About thirty coins have
been found, from Vespasian (69-79 AD) to Constantius I
(305-306 AD), but none from the 3rd century. Of course,
much remains unknown and may always be so. It is
assumed that a road went west across the Lune to Galava
although its route has not been traced. The road from
Low Borrowbridge, which we have been tracking south,
runs 1km to the east of the fort.
Burrow Hall is a substantial Grade I listed Georgian
mansion, best seen from the footpath to the north. After
the Civil War the Burrow estate was given to a Colonel
Briggs, who built the first hall in the 1650s. The estate was
sold to the Fenwick family in 1690 and Robert Fenwick,
Attorney General and MP for Lancaster, rebuilt the hall,
as we see it now, in 1740. After passing through various
hands, the estate was offered for sale in 2005 for £3.5m
Leck Beck 121
and so, for what it’s worth, we have the estate agent’s
description of the interior of the building: the Baroque
ceilings, the marble fireplaces, the delicate cornicing of
its five grand reception rooms, the sumptuous master
suite, the stunning atrium with fabulous views, and so
on. The Burrow estate also includes 0.5km of fishing on
the Lune, which Leck Beck joins 300m below Burrow
Bridge.
The Top 10 pubs in Loyne
(This ‘top 10’ has provoked more comment than all the
others combined. I think that I had better play safe and list
the pubs (generously, more than ten) in alphabetical order.
I am open to persuasion, financial or gustatory, from any
owner who feels their pub has been neglected.)
1= Barbon Inn, Barbon
1= Cross Keys Inn, Tebay
1= Fenwick Arms, Claughton
1= Game Cock, Austwick
1= Golden Ball, Lancaster
1= Hill Inn, Chapel-le-Dale
1= Lunesdale Arms, Tunstall
1= Marton Arms, Thornton-in-Lonsdale
1= Redwell Inn, Gressingham/Arkholme
1= Ship Inn, Caton
1= Stork, Conder Green
1= Sun Inn, Dent
1= The Head, Middleton
1= The Sun, Lancaster
1= Water Witch, Lancaster
P.S. The Highwayman Inn is disqualified for calling itself
a Ribble Valley Inn.
The Lune from Leck Beck ...
T
he map shows a ford across the Lune immediately
after Leck Beck has entered the Lune and I can
vouch for the fact that it is indeed fordable, on foot
(sometimes). If the paddling expedition is from the east
and is timed properly, it is possible to sneak in on the
Whittington point to point steeplechases that are held on
Easter Saturdays in the fields opposite.
The Lune valley has now flattened out, giving long
views to the south, east and north. An island (when the
river is high) has been formed, with its shores strewn with
large boulders and tree-trunks washed down in floods.
The riverside fields show evidence of old river channels,
with the lagoons left by the shifting Lune being favourite
haunts of the heron, a bird that, unlike others, rises with
graceful dignity if disturbed and with slow beats of its
wings drifts off to settle in the long reeds where it can
keep a better eye on you than vice versa.
This is a magnificent spot for seeing the salmon
leap. Settle on the west bank on a fine autumn day,
at a point opposite the island, where a deep stretch of
Lune runs straight towards you from the north. There
will be little noise, apart from the splashing salmon. If
the salmon should be resting, there will be, apart from
the heron, a display of bird-life such as oystercatcher,
snipe and kingfisher, if you are lucky – and all this with
a backdrop of the Howgills, Leck Fell and Ingleborough.
This beats Ruskin’s View by far!
The 1847 OS map shows that, south of the island,
the Lune swept in a wide curve half the way to Tunstall,
that is, 500m from its present course. All the fields east
and west of the Lune from Kirkby Lonsdale were marked
Logs and the Lune at the ‘island’
as “liable to flooding”. The Lune floodplain, about 1km
wide and running 15km from Kirkby Lonsdale to Caton,
has all the characteristics of a textbook floodplain. In
normal conditions, the Lune meanders gently among
wide, flat and tranquil pastures, where glacial till and
regular alluvium deposits create rich soils to provide
fertile grazing land for sheep and cattle. Abandoned
channels and protected hollows create lagoons that
are replenished by floods and heavy rain to provide
important wetland habitats for birds, fish and plants.
Kingfishers and sand martins are able to nest in the
eroded riverbanks.
For obvious reasons, there are no human habitations
in the floodplain, increasing the sense that the area is
a haven for wildlife. The floodplain rises gently to its
undulating fringes, where homesteads have been built
and along which important lines of communication have
always existed. Communication across the floodplain
was more difficult, although there were several fords
between settlements on opposite banks. In general, the
Lune is fortunate that, although there has been some
drainage and flood protection work, there has been no
major urban or industrial development to affect these
ecologically important areas of grassland and wet
meadows.
The Lune continues south, to be joined by the major
tributary of the River Greta.
The salmon is the Lune’s jewel. The Lune has one of the
most important populations of Atlantic salmon in England,
salmon being found through much of the Lune’s catchment
area. The eggs are laid in autumn, with the young salmon
staying in their native beck for up to three years. The
mature salmon then spend two or three years in the sea
before returning to their beck in early summer in order to
spawn and then, usually, to die.
The Lune was once one of the best salmon fisheries
in England but numbers dropped in the 1960s because of
disease (ulcerative dermal necrosis, which certainly sounds
bad). There may well have been other factors, such as the
loss of spawning habitats, excessive fishing, poor water
quality, and barriers to the salmons’ swim upstream, as
well as causes external to the Lune. The Lune’s problems
are not unique as global catches of Atlantic salmon fell by
80% in the 30 years from 1970. Although the numbers of
Lune salmon have since revived they are not yet back to
previous levels and the numbers of sea-trout also remain
disappointing.
The Environment Agency now monitors salmon
populations through automatic counters at Forge Bank Weir,
Caton and Broadraine Weir, Killington and has developed
a ‘salmon action plan’ for the Lune. This includes giving
nature a hand by releasing four-month-old salmon fry,
reared from Lune eggs, into upstream tributaries.
The Lune at the ‘island’, with Leck Fell and Ingleborough beyond
CHAPTER 8:
The Greta
Headwaters
Fo
rce
Be
ck
Wint
e
sdale
• Chapel-
le-Dale
c
Be
▲ Park Fell
k
walk 17
King
•
Batty Moss Viaduct
*
S
el
ap
Ch
* White Scar
Cave
a
River Gret
▲ Blea Moor
wa
lk
16
*
Thornton Force *
les
c a e ck
rs
B
Yordas
Cave
S
l
Whernside
▲
Green Hill ▲
Gragareth ▲
Gil
Little Dale
Great Coum ▲
Beck
124 Chapter 8: The Greta Headwaters
5
25
B6
▲ Simon Fell
▲ Ingleborough
Ingleton
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The River Greta (Chapel Beck) ... 125
T
The River Greta (Chapel Beck) ...
he River Greta is formed at Ingleton by the
confluence of the River Doe and River Twiss.
Unfortunately, there is confusion as to which is
which. The Ordnance Survey and the Ingleton Waterfalls
Walk leaflet have the Doe to the east but Wainwright’s
Walks in Limestone Country and Ingleton’s own leaflet
have the Doe to the west. Upstream, the two rivers are
called Chapel Beck (in Chapel-le-Dale) and Kingsdale
Beck (in Kingsdale) and it seems simplest to retain those
names down to the Ingleton junction, rather than choose
between the river names.
As Chapel Beck is the larger of the two at the
junction I will consider that to provide the source of
the Greta, with Kingsdale Beck being a tributary. This
is supported by Thos Johnson’s 1872 book A Pictorial
Handbook to the Valley of the Lune and Gossiping
Guide to Morecambe and District (yes, really), which
considers Chapel-le-Dale to lie in Gretadale. Moreover,
he has a River Doe in Kingsdale, so if I were forced off
the fence, I’d say the Ordnance Survey has it wrong.
The source of Chapel Beck is at the head of Little
Dale between Whernside and Blea Moor. Here, Little
Dale Beck is joined by Force Gill, which has two fairsized waterfalls and crosses the Settle-Carlisle railway
line over an aqueduct. Force Gill arises in Greensett, a
boggy plateau on the eastern slopes of Whernside. Our
obsession with getting to the tops of mountains – perhaps
understandable with Whernside, as it is the highest
peak of the Dales – tends to lead us to hurry past more
interesting areas. Although the slopes of Whernside are
now all CRoW land, 99% of walkers dutifully follow
the signposted route, part of the Three Peaks walk, via
Grain Head, ignoring Force Gill and Greensett.
Actually, my preferred route up Whernside is from
Kingsdale Head – all grass and no people (so forget
I mentioned it). But the CRoW policy does raise a
question: is it environmentally better that we all tread
the standard path, thereby giving up that path to erosion
and decay? Or should we spread ourselves thinly across
CRoW land? There seems little point in creating access
land if we are not expected to access it but, on the other
hand, even the occasional walker may be too much for
some of the flora and fauna.
The first time we walked the Three Peaks route we
came across a curlew’s nest right by the path. There’s
no chance of that today. The curlew is the bird most
The Three Peaks are Whernside, Ingleborough and Peny-Ghent. The first two, at 736m and 724m, are the two
highest peaks in the Yorkshire Dales and are wholly within
Loyne. Pen-y-Ghent (694m) is the 7th highest Dales peak
and is in Ribblesdale.
The Three Peaks walk of about 38km, with nearly
1600m of ascent, is a challenging all-day expedition. The
Three Peaks fell race is even more challenging but should
not take all day (only serious runners are allowed: no
pantomime horses). The record is 2hr 46min for the present
course and 2hr 29min for a previous course, with the ladies’
record standing at 3hr 13min. In 2008 the 54th Three Peaks
race was run as the 5th World Long Distance Mountain
Running Challenge. The start used to be at Chapel-le-Dale
but is now at Horton-in-Ribblesdale, which has taken upon
itself the role of Three Peaks centre. Of course, walkers
may start at any point on the circuit.
However, it is hardly a fell walk or race nowadays.
Much of the route has been so badly eroded that the natural
fell has been replaced. It is a shame that so many people
(an estimated 250,000 a year) continue to follow such a
worn path. Jack Sharp’s New Walks in the Yorkshire Dales
provides a score of alternative long-distance walks.
I would also suggest a Loyne Three Peaks – replace
Pen-y-Ghent with Great Coum. The latter is only 7m lower
and this route avoids the long trek over bog and on road
from Pen-y-Ghent to Whernside and the eyesore of the
Horton quarries (and it’s 10km shorter).
redolent of the northern moors, with its distinctive call
as it glides earthwards. Some describe it as plaintive or
melancholy but it sounds bubblingly joyful to me. Never
mind the swallow and cuckoo, it is the call of the curlew
that is for me the most evocative of the new year (as
early as January in 2006) as the curlew returns up the
Lune valley to its nesting haunts.
Below the red-tinged sandstone slopes of Whernside,
grey slate tumbles towards the peat of Greensett Moss.
Here is Greensett Tarn, the sheltered home of blackheaded gulls, and below the tarn is a line of shakeholes
and caves, including Greensett Cave. Their existence at
560m, when the main potholes and caves of the valley are
at about 300m, shows that there is a layer of limestone
here, as well as in the valley.
Little Dale Beck absorbs Hare Gill and Foul Gutter
from Blea Moor before crossing under the railway
line, 1km north of the Ribblehead Viaduct, to become
Two pages before: Ingleborough from Souther
Scales.
Force Gill, with walkers on the Three Peaks route
Winterscales Beck. This viaduct was originally called
Batty Moss Viaduct, in keeping with the tradition of
naming viaducts after what they cross (Dent Head, Arten
Gill and Dandry Mire). Its renaming, along with that of
Batty Green Station to Ribblehead Station, is a triumph
for the tourist industry of Ribblesdale.
The source of the Ribble is 8km north at Newby
Head in Widdale. Standing under the viaduct, it is hard
to tell whether water will flow southwest to the Lune
or southeast to the Ribble, precisely because the viaduct
was built over the watershed. If anything, it looks more
downhill to the southwest and, certainly, the largest beck
of any size that is close to the viaduct is Winterscales
Beck, which flows to the Lune.
It is too late to claim the viaduct for the Lune but
there is every justification for calling it Batty Moss
Viaduct, as I will, not least because its actual existence
here may be a little batty. The Settle-Carlisle railway
line is now absorbed into the romance of the Dales and
we may marvel at the skill and energy that produced the
scenic section from Batty Moss Viaduct to Dandrymire
Viaduct, via Bleamoor Tunnel, Dent Head Viaduct,
Artengill Viaduct and Risehill Tunnel. But we might
pause to ask: Why? Why was it necessary?
Imagine yourself to be a railway engineer in 1870,
standing at Selside in Ribblesdale. The Settle-Carlisle
line will proceed north up Ribblesdale and south below
Wild Boar Fell. How would you bridge the gap? Would
you go over the watershed to Dentdale and then out
again to Garsdale rather than through Widdale (the
present B6265 route), knowing that the line from Hawes
to Garsdale, completed in 1878, was already planned?
I am not a railway engineer but it seems to me that this
route requires no large viaducts and no tunnels.
Batty Moss Viaduct
Walk 16: Whernside from Chapel-le-Dale
Starting point: A lay-by on the north side of the B6255 200m northwest of Hill Inn (744777).
Walk past the Hill Inn to take Philpin Lane north to Bruntscar. This is on the Three Peaks walk route but you will avoid the
steep, knee-jarring slog up the reinforced thoroughfare on the flank of Whernside by taking a more leisurely uphill amble, mainly
on grass.
Turn left past Bruntscar and Ellerbeck and on to the bridleway southwest. After about 1km leave the bridleway to cut across
to the straight wall that runs up the West Fell ridge. Follow this wall all the way to the top of Whernside, 1km before which you
rejoin the Three Peaks thoroughfare.
From the top, drop down the slope (steep but not too steep) to reach the remains of a wall 0.5km east and follow it northeast,
investigating the Greensett caves and potholes, as you wish. Follow the wall down east to see the Force Gill waterfalls. Rejoin the
footpath to cross the railway line and after 1km go under the railway to Winterscales and Ivescar. From Ivescar take the footpath
south to Winterscales Beck. Continue on the road and then footpath back to Philpin Lane, noting the caves and potholes and the
signs of damage wrought when the beck is in spate.
When planning a high-level walk, it is always worth having a low-level alternative in mind, for often on arrival we find that
the tops have gathered cloud. Here there is a fine loop walk under the shelter of Whernside: from Chapel-le-Dale take Oddie’s
Lane to Twisleton Hall, then follow the footpath across Scales Moor to Bruntscar and on to Winterscales, and then work your
way back along Winterscales Beck.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk through Bruntscar and Ellerbeck to the West Fell ridge. Walk by the wall north past
Combe Scar to where it is joined from the right by the broad path from Bruntscar (part of the Three Peaks route). Now you must
summon up all your resolve to not walk the further 1km to the top of Whernside, just 140m higher: this is supposed to be a short
walk and you really cannot expect to get to the highest point of the Yorkshire Dales on a short walk. So, with great fortitude, take
the path down to Bruntscar and back to Philpin Lane.
Anyway, let us be grateful, for if they
had so decided all of the Settle-Carlisle
line would be outside Loyne. However, we
should always remember that the “thrilling
story of this magnificent engineering
enterprise”, as Wainwright’s Walks in
Limestone Country puts it, involved a
few thousand people working here, under
appalling conditions, for six years (less
for the two hundred or so who died). The
Batty Green shantytown sounds jolly but it
must have been a hard, tough life here in the
cold, wet, muddy desolation. I hope that the
workers’ sacrifices were not in the cause of
some vainglorious adventure.
Today, we may admire the results of
their labours. The Batty Moss Viaduct is
the most spectacular of all the engineering
works on the Settle-Carlisle line and an
awesome sight from Whernside and other
vantage points. Its 24 arches are made
from local limestone and the embankment
from earth excavated from Bleamoor Tunnel. The
viaduct is 32m high and 400m long and the spans are
7m wide, with each sixth pier thickened to help prevent
collapse. Its gentle curve seems fully in keeping with the
surroundings, now that the shantytown has long gone.
Winterscales Beck makes its way intermittently
southwest, repeatedly disappearing through its limestone
bed and being re-created by resurgences, of which the
largest is from Gatekirk Cave. In summer much of its
bed will be dry but it is obvious from the erosion that
after heavy rain this is a ferocious torrent. In places,
one can stand in the dry bed and see debris in the trees
several metres above.
After Winterscales Beck disappears, a series of
potholes and caves continues its line until the emergence
of Chapel Beck below Chapel-le-Dale. Some of these
potholes are described in the overblown prose of John
Hutton, vicar of Burton-in-Kendal, who in 1780 wrote
a 49-page pamphlet considered to be the first-ever book
on caving. He considered Weathercote Cave to be “the
most surprising natural curiosity of the kind in the
island of Great Britain … a stupendous subterranean
cataract.” Hurtle Pot, however, was “one of the most
dismal prospects we had yet been presented with … [and
he viewed] with horror and astonishment its dreadful
aspect.”
Winterscales Beck near Winterscales Farm
Like many rural hamlets, Chapel-le-Dale is known
for its pub and its church. The Hill Inn was long regarded
as a rowdy base for potholers. St Leonard’s Church is a
more sombre resting place for the “many men, women
and children … who died through accident or disease
during the construction of the Settle-Carlisle railway and
who were buried in this churchyard”, as a millennium
year memorial plaque puts it. Sadly, the plaque does not
list the two hundred names given in the burial register.
A notice in the St Leonard’s Church porch
(Perhaps the boggards of Hurtle Pot - to which legend
attributes the strange noises that Hurtle Pot makes
when in flood - have been up to their tricks.)
Ingleborough from White Scars
The church itself is neat, with mullioned windows and
bellcot, built in the 17th century and restored in 1869.
Above Chapel-le-Dale soars Ingleborough, the
supreme peak of the Yorkshire Dales. Although second
in height to Whernside, its isolated location and proud
profile make it seem higher from almost every direction.
Its position at the head of the Greta and Wenning valleys
means that it oversees, and can be seen from, much of
Loyne.
Its name alludes, perhaps fortuitously, to two early
roles. The word ‘ingle’ is from an old Gaelic word for
fire and no doubt, because of its domineering position,
The Top 10 peaks in Loyne
(to look at, not from)
1. Ingleborough
2. Wild Boar Fell
3. Great Coum
4. Grayrigg Pike
5. Calf Top
6. Whinfell
7. Whernside
8. Clougha Pike
9. Winder
10. Mallowdale Pike
Ingleborough was often in the past the site of a beacon.
The ‘borough’ (as we saw with Low Borrowbridge and
Over Burrow) may be associated with an old fortification.
In fact, the Ordnance Survey is bold enough to mark
‘fort’ on its map. The fort is variously believed to have
been built by the Romans, by the Brigantes (against the
Romans) and by pre-Roman Iron Age settlers. But David
Johnson, in his 2008 book on Ingleborough, doubts that
it was a fort at all. He does not consider that the remains
of the wall, which some call ramparts, that run round
the rim of the summit plateau are substantial enough to
indicate any defensive role. Also, the lack of water on
the plateau makes it an implausible defensive retreat.
This fact also leads Johnson to doubt that the score
or so of circular remains that can be seen on the plateau
are those of hut circles, as is usually stated. Ancient
people were hardy, but not necessarily masochistic, as
they would need to have been to choose to live here,
completely exposed to the elements, of which there
are many on the top of Ingleborough. He considers the
remains to be those of ring cairns and that in ancient times
the top of Ingleborough served symbolic or ceremonial
functions rather than military or residential ones. Much
like today, in fact.
These ancient remains should not be confused with
the great pile of stones on the western rim. This was a
hospice-cum-tower-cum-shooting-box. It was left to
fall into ruin after damage was caused at a boisterous
opening ceremony in 1830. Recalling this event in the
Lancaster Guardian in 1897, Joseph Carr described the
tower as “one of the wonders of Lunesdale” – note the
Lunesdale. Still standing is the cross-shaped wind shelter
erected in 1953. This provides endless entertainment for,
sitting in one quarter, one cannot help eavesdropping on
conversations in the other three quarters. These are often
disputes over the identification of distant peaks. One
can hardly intrude to point out the view indicator in the
middle of the cross.
Ingleborough’s distinctive profile is a consequence
of its geology, which is similar to that of Whernside and
Wild Boar Fell. The top 30m or so are of hardwearing
millstone grit. This sits atop 250m of conglomerate rocks
(the Yoredale series), mainly shales and sandstones, with
a little limestone, all covered with peat except where
exposed on the crags. Below this is a 200m layer of
limestone (the Great Scar limestone), which is visible
on the lower slopes of the mountain. These are all
sedimentary rocks of the Carboniferous period that have
Whernside and the Batty Moss Viaduct from below The Arks, Ingleborough
Ingleborough top (with no people!)
not been distorted much from their horizontal layers.
Below the 250m contour are the much older Silurian
slates and grits, which have been folded and contorted.
And the whole has been much shaped by glacial action.
Some of the western slopes of Ingleborough and
Simon Fell form a National Nature Reserve, although at
the moment it is more a matter of reversing nature than
of reserving it. Previously the land had been fertilised
and over-grazed, preventing the growth of wildflowers
and trees. The moorland areas are now being managed
to restore lost acid-loving plants such as ling heather
and bilberry, to join plants such as bog asphodel and
purple moor-grass. The grazing regime on the limestone
grasslands is intended to enable the flowering of
different plants through the seasons: purple wild thyme,
orchids, yellow rockrose, harebell, and so on. Within the
grikes many woodland plants flourish but now trees and
shrubs (ash, elm, hawthorn, hazel, sycamore) also have
a chance to thrive. This process has been supported by
the Dales-wide Limestone Country Project, which was
partly funded by the EU and ran from 2003 to 2008.
The aim was to improve biodiversity by moving from
sheep-intensive farming towards mixed farming using
hardy upland cattle breeds, such as the Blue Grey and
Highland cattle that may be seen at High Howeth on the
western slopes of Ingleborough.
To the north, Scar Close has been protected for
longer and gives an idea of the clint-and-grike flora
before wood clearance and over-grazing. Ash, hazel and
rowan trees have become established. Further north, the
raised terrace of Howrake Rocks has formed a prominent
rectangle of woodland, showing how different the
Yorkshire Dales would look if left to revert to its natural
state.
Above the limestone terraces, there is a line of caves
and potholes where becks running off the fells disappear
underground. Great Douk Cave and Middle Washfold
Caves are popular with novice cavers. Braithwaite Wife
Hole (which Thos Johnson and Harry Speight, in their 19th
century guides, rendered more intriguingly as Barefoot
Wives Hole) is a huge shakehole, 60m in diameter.
Raven Scar Cave, only discovered in 1971, was found to
be a Neolithic burial site. Meregill Hole is 170m deep,
with the mere that gives the pot its name visible 12m
down – or so they say. The sound of a waterfall below,
when the beck above was dry, was enough for me.
There is a line of springs, particularly clearly seen
after rain, in the green fields below Twisleton Scars,
where the limestone meets the impermeable lower layer.
Below God’s Bridge, several resurgences can be seen
entering Chapel Beck – or in summer creating Chapel
Beck, for then the bed is dry above the bridge. God’s
Bridge, incidentally, is traditionally a name that denotes
a natural, as opposed to man-made or devil-made, bridge
but here it has been sacrilegiously cemented over.
Chapel Beck runs below Oddie’s Lane, which is
along the line of a Roman road that ran from Bainbridge
to near Ingleton and then probably to join the road at
Over Burrow. On the east bank is the site of the disused
Ingleton Granite Quarry. It is, in fact, not granite at all
but greywacke, an impure sandstone with a toughness
that made it a valued stone for roads.
As Chapel Beck flows gently south-east, on the left
a building comes into view that delivers exactly what
it says on its roof, that is, caves – to be precise, the
White Scar Caves. By the time Chapel Beck crosses
the footpath from Beezleys it is wide and docile enough
to require nearly fifty stepping-stones to cross. But it
is only girding its loins for a tumultuous fall through
Baxenghyll Gorge, including impressive cascades at
Beezley Falls, Rival Falls and Snow Falls, between
which the water lies black-brown in deep pools.
The glen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
because of its geology and associated flora. It is also
designated an Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland, ancient
in this context being defined as pre-1600. Ancient
woodland is scarce locally because of grazing but much
of this glen is inaccessible to sheep or cattle, enabling
oak and birch, with occasional hazel, holly and rowan,
to flourish on the acidic soils that overlie the Silurian
slate. The woodlands are also important for their mosses
and liverworts, which thrive in dark gullies, and ground
plants such as wood rush, dog’s mercury and wild
garlic.
The path alongside the falls provides views of
several disused slate quarries, while from high to the
east the stone-crushing noise of Skirwith Quarry may
well intrude. This quarry continues to mine the Ingleton
Granite previously mined upstream.
As Chapel Beck emerges from the wooded glen
it passes through the remains of Mealbank Quarry.
Beezley Falls
White Scar Caves are the longest show caves in England.
They were discovered in 1923 when two Cambridge
students, Christopher Long and John Churchill, investigated
Playfair’s Cave, then thought to lead only a short distance.
They had previously explored the Cheddar Gorge in
Somerset and Stump Cross Cavern near Harrogate and,
having concluded that there was money to be made from
developing a show cave, had come to Ingleborough with
that specific intention.
So, wearing, according to the Yorkshire Post, an outfit
that “consisted of all-leather clothes, thoroughly treated
with dubbin; a helmet, with three candles and an electric
lamp, served by a battery and switch attached to their belts;
rock-climbing boots and a plentiful application of vaseline
to such parts of their body as were exposed” (that is, most
of them), Long and Churchill ventured in. They found a
way beyond a pool and after crawling 200m reached the
first waterfall of the cave’s main stream. Subsequently they
explored upstream, passing many fine formations, now
bearing prosaic names such as the Sword of Damocles and
the Devil’s Tongue, as far as the lakes now bypassed by the
Bagshaw Tunnel.
Unfortunately, they were not rewarded for this
endeavour because Long, a manic depressive, died of a
drug overdose in 1924 and Churchill was unable to raise
sufficient funds to continue the development of the cave.
The cave was eventually opened to the public in 1925,
with the first manager, Tom Greenwood, adding further
galleries and passages in the 1930s. In 1971 the massive
200,000-year-old Battlefield Cavern, 100m long and 30m
high with thousands of delicate stalactites and undisturbed
prehistoric mud pools, was discovered and this now forms
the climax of the present tour, 1.5km and 90 minutes from
the entrance.
It contains probably the thickest coal seam within an
English limestone sequence, and the sediments are rich
in fossils yet to be fully understood. The quarry also
has the ruins of England’s first Hoffmann kiln, which
operated from 1864 to 1909. This kiln had a literally
revolutionary design, whereby material was burned in
a continuous horizontal loop, rather than tipped into a
vertical furnace.
On the outskirts of Ingleton, Chapel Beck passes an
outdoor swimming pool that a plaque proudly informs
us has been ranked the 52nd such pool in the world. Just
before the viaduct for the old Lowgill-Clapham line
Chapel Beck is joined by Kingsdale Beck to form the
River Greta.
Kingsdale Beck 133
Kingsdale Beck
M
ost visitors to Kingsdale intend to go through
or under it, which is less than it deserves. They
are either using the road between Dent and Thorntonin-Lonsdale or they are aiming to tackle the potholes
arrayed along the sides of Kingsdale.
Kingsdale is a fine upland valley, flanked by
Whernside to the east and Great Coum and Gragareth
to the west, with its limestone scars below the millstone
grit tops providing superb views. It can be lonely and
wild but also, on sunny summer days, balmy and serene.
It would perhaps have its deserved appeal to tourists if
it reverted to its full name of Vikingsdale – some of the
names here (Yordas, Braida Garth) are of Norse origin,
as indeed are ‘beck’ and ‘dale’.
The valley runs straight from north to south for
7km with only 1½ farmsteads in it – Braida Garth and
Kingsdale Head. The other ½ of the latter is a holiday
cottage. The head of Kingsdale is 3km above Kingsdale
Head, where the road between Whernside and High Pike
begins to drop down steeply to Dentdale. Kingsdale
Beck gathers off the peaty slopes of Great Coum and
Whernside but, like Barbon Beck to the north, comes
and goes a few times. It has usually gone between
Kingsdale Head and Keld Head. This is convenient for it
means we can follow the new ‘conservation path’ across
the beck to investigate the Apronfull of Stones. This
20m-diameter ring of stones, with gaps to the east and
west (the latter probably from beck erosion), is a Bronze
Age burial cairn.
Directly opposite is Yordas Cave, which was one
of the first tourist attractions in the Dales. The aforementioned Reverend Hutton said of Yordas Cave:
“Having never been in a cave before, a thousand ideas
… were excited in my imagination on my entrance
into this gloomy cavern … As we advanced ... and the
gloom and the horror increased, the den of Cacus, and
the cave of Poliphemus came into my mind [sadly, our
knowledge of Greek mythology is not what it was] …
Keld Head Scar in Kingsdale
Kingsdale Beck 135
The roof was so high, and the bottom and sides so dark,
that, with all the light we could procure from our candles
and torches, we were not able to see the dimensions of
this cavern [it’s about 20m high and 50m long] ... On the
right was the bishop’s throne, and on the left the chapterhouse ... [the religious terminology was in use before the
reverend’s visit and is still used today]. Here we could
not but lament the devastation made in the ornaments of
these sacred places; some Goths not long since having
defaced both throne and chapter-house of their pendant
petrified works, which had been some ages in forming
[so vandalism is not a recent problem].”
Yordas Cave has been formed from Yordas Gill
dropping through the limestone, forming the waterfall
in the chapter-house, and running across the floor of the
cavern. After heavy rain, its present exit is insufficient
and the cavern begins to fill. It is one of a series of caves
and potholes that line the Turbary Road that runs above
the limestone terraces. This track provided access to
turbary, that is, common land where peat or turf may
be cut, an important right in ancient times. Today, it
Left (top): Gragareth and Yordas Wood from the
Apronfull of Stones.
Left (bottom): Kingsdale and Whernside.
Below: Rowten Pot.
provides an excellent walking track, safely guiding us
between the potholes.
These potholes and those on the eastern side of
Kingsdale hold a proud place in potholing history
because in 1991 the route from King Pot (on the east)
to Keld Head provided the then longest diving traverse
in the world. The best pothole to view from the surface,
Rowten Pot, can hardly be missed, although I hope it is
avoided. Walking from the south, the sound of the beck
will first be heard, rather scarily, from a hole barely 1m
from the Turbary Road. This hole is in the roof of Rowten
Cave, which can be entered 100m to the west. Rowten
Pot itself is a huge chasm 10m to the east. Actually, it is
two chasms, between which it is possible to walk – with
care, for the southern one falls 70m. Walking from the
north, it is the northern chasm, with trees sprouting out
of it, which is seen first.
The Turbary Road swings west towards Masongill
but there is a good path back to the Dent road, past
the Tow Scar trig point. From this there’s a view of
Ingleborough and Whernside and across the Greta and
Wenning valleys to the Bowland Fells and Pendle – a
much better view, in fact, than the one afforded by the
Millennium viewing station kindly provided on the Dent
road, for this is dominated to the south by the nearby
mast of a radio station and there is no view to the north.
Kingsdale Beck 137
Meanwhile, Kingsdale Beck (if it exists) has run
along its straightened course to be replenished at Keld
Head, where the becks that disappear into the potholes reemerge. At Keld Head the waters meet the impermeable
Silurian rocks that underlie the limestone and form a
huge underwater cavern. At first glance, it seems that
Kingsdale is enclosed on all four sides by higher ground,
with Raven Ray forming a barrier to the
south. It is easy to imagine Kingsdale as
a glaciated valley, with terminal moraines
being deposited at Raven Ray, so enclosing
a large lake. But there is now a way through
for Kingsdale Beck.
If you innocently follow the beck by
taking the path over Ravenray Bridge you
may be surprised to find yourself struggling
against the flow of walkers in the opposite
direction. Clearly there is something
special downstream – and we soon hear
and see it, that is, Thornton Force, which
many regard as the most picturesque
waterfall in the Dales. At 14m it is not the
highest but the graceful cascade within a
shrub-topped cliff face seems perfectly
designed for tourists’ snapshots from the
footpath. It is even possible, with care, to
scramble behind the waterfall to enhance
the magic.
A better reason for doing so is to
investigate at close quarters the geological
unconformity in the cliff face. An
unconformity does not just mean that there
is a change in the type of rock, which is
obvious to even the untrained eye, but that
two rocks are adjacent when they shouldn’t
be: a younger rock rests upon an older rock
with an expected intervening middle-aged
rock missing, because the sediment either
was never laid or has been eroded away.
Here, the sediments of 350 million year old
Carboniferous limestone lie above distorted
Silurian slates some 100 million years
older, with the Devonian layer missing,
the whole forming a textbook illustration
of severe earth movement and erosion. Between them is
a narrow band of softer conglomerate limestone that has
eroded to give the overhanging waterfall lip.
The region clearly has a complex geology. Chapel
Beck and Kingsdale Beck are crossed by the North
Craven Fault, one of several Craven Faults that run
across the southern Yorkshire Dales, from Grassington
Left: Ingleborough from Tow Scar.
Right: Thornton Force.
Walk 17: Kingsdale and Yordas Cave
Starting point: A lay-by on the Thornton-in-Lonsdale to Dent road (692757).
This is a shorter walk than usual, to allow time for pottering about. Before I forget, take a torch with you.
From the lay-by walk 200m north along the road to take the track east over Kingsdale Beck. Continue for 1km and then take
the footpath that cuts back north heading for Braida Garth, 3km away. Follow this path below limestone scars to Braida Garth
and then continue across a field to the road.
At this point there is a new path alongside Kingsdale Beck to the Apronfull of Stones, 1km upstream. If Kingsdale Beck is
dry, as it usually is, walk to the Apronfull and then follow a new path west to Yordas Cave, where the torch will come in handy.
(If it isn’t, forget the Apronfull and just walk 1km along the road to the cave). The field within which Yordas Wood is located is
CRoW land, so from the cave walk above the wood to locate the line of the permissive path linking to the Turbary Road, which
you follow south. Stray from the Turbary Road only with care, for example, to see Jingling Pot, Rowten Pot (and the cave above
it) and as many other pots as you wish.
Now it only remains to locate the path back to the starting point: after a section where the Turbary Road runs near a wall,
stay on the Road across another field, and your path, a clear track, is 200m further (at 685768), heading south. It goes past Tow
Scar (worth a detour to the trig point) and then drops down to near the lay-by.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk to Yordas Cave and then return along the road to the lay-by.
past Malham Cove and Ingleton towards Barbon. The
faults are responsible for some of the most dramatic
Dales scenery and for the clear change from limestone to
the north to millstone grit to the south. It is less apparent
that on a 2km stroll near Ingleton you may walk over the
oldest sedimentary bedrock in Loyne, that is, Ordovician
(Arenig), 500m years old, and also the youngest, Permian
Red Sandstone, 250m years old.
Our admiration of the outcome is enhanced as we
continue downstream, passing Hollybush Spout and
Pecca Falls, which fall over sandstone and slate, and
entering Swilla Glen, a deep gorge cut into limestone.
The gorge woodland is, like Baxenghyll Gorge, a Site
of Special Scientific Interest on account of its geology
and stands of ash, hazel, wych elm and yew, with rich
woodland herbs.
If you follow our path down by Chapel Beck and by
Kingsdale Beck then, as you emerge at Broadwood, an
official may well challenge your innocence by demanding
payment, for you have completed, in an unorthodox
fashion, the famous Ingleton Waterfalls Walk.
The Ingleton Waterfalls Walk is an 8km circular walk up
by Kingsdale Beck, across the path by Twisleton Hall and
Beezleys and back down by Chapel Beck, passing a series
of waterfalls.
The walk was opened in 1885 and soon there were
packed trains bringing multitudes from places such as
Leeds, Bradford and Manchester. Inevitably, this financial
windfall provoked disputes about who should benefit – the
developers of the pathways, the farmers whose lands were
being crossed, or the village of Ingleton itself. There was
also a debate with Mealbank Quarry, the noise of which
spoilt an idyllic country ramble. At one stage, there were
two companies involved, one charging for the western
glen, the other for the eastern glen: many visitors were so
disgruntled at being charged twice for one walk that they
returned home to put up notices warning others “not to go
to Ingleton unless you want to be robbed”.
There is obviously a difficulty in charging for a walk
that has four entry points – the tops and bottoms of the two
glens. The tops may be freely entered, as may the bottom of
the Chapel Beck glen. Some people resent paying for what
nature has freely provided. Guidebooks agree that the fee
is a bargain, authors not wishing to appear curmudgeonly
or to belittle the undoubted splendour of the walk. For
example, Wainwright’s Walks in Limestone Country
effuses “So small a fee! So great a reward!”. But then it
was one shilling (5p) in 1970. It now costs an arm and a
leg, with reduces the pleasure, not to say feasibility, of the
walk. The paths do need to be maintained, and they are, to
a high standard, but does it cost so much to do so? Today,
the Waterfalls Walk is managed by the Ingleton Scenery
Company, with an address in Skipton.
CHAPTER 9:
Gretadale and a little
more Lunesdale
140 Chapter 9: Gretadale and a little more Lunesdale
Gragareth ▲
Newto
Newton •
•
Tunstall
e
•
Masongill
A65
Cantsfield
•
Burton-inLonsdale
River Gr
eta
•
7
A68
• Ingleton
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Jenkin Bec
Beck
Aspland
A6
•
R
• Melling
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Thornton-in-Lonsdale
•
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B
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Whittington •
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* Castle
Stede
River Wenning
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Greta from Kingsdale Beck 141
C
The Greta from Kingsdale Beck
hapel Beck and Kingsdale Beck (or the Rivers
Twiss and Doe, or vice versa) merge to form the
Greta in the middle of Ingleton. Ingleton is always
thought of as part of the Yorkshire Dales although it is
in fact carefully excluded from the National Park, whose
boundary detours around the northern outskirts. Perhaps
the boundary makers agreed with the afore-mentioned
Thos Johnson who, writing of the church in 1872, said
that it “partakes of the character of the houses, being a
miserable, slap-dashed building, without one redeeming
feature.”
No writer would dare to be so offensive today but
even so it cannot be denied that Ingleton has more of
an industrial nature than places we’ve visited earlier.
Apart from the tourist industry, which dominates today,
there is still quarrying nearby, although on a lesser scale
than previously, and an industrial estate, close to the site
of the old Ingleton Colliery. In 2004 a monument was
erected near the A65 to help ensure that Ingleton’s coal
mining history is not forgotten. Small-scale coal mining,
as in Dentdale and Barbondale, existed here since the
17th century, although the seams were of poor quality
and thin, as indicated by their being called the ‘four
feet’ and ‘six feet’ seams. Numerous pits are shown on
the OS map, all marked as disused, which they became
once the railways made local coal mining uneconomic.
In 1913, however, a ‘ten feet’ seam was found deeper
underground (quite why anyone went to the trouble of
looking is unclear). The Ingleton Colliery operated until
1936, employing up to 900 people. There is no sign of
the colliery now but it is not inconceivable that, with
new technologies and changing energy policies, coal
mining will return to the region.
The Greta passes under the Ingleton Viaduct (for
the Lowgill-Clapham line) of eleven arches nearly
30m high. It is here that the ‘failure of railway politics’
mentioned on page 52 was most manifest. Approval for
such a viaduct was granted in 1846 but dithering and
disagreements between the companies involved delayed
its building until 1861. Then the animosity between the
Midland Railway and the London and North Western
Railway led them to build two railway stations, the
former’s east of the viaduct and the latter’s to the west.
Through passengers were required to disembark and
transport themselves and their luggage between the two
stations. To maximise inconvenience the companies
ensured that the timetables did not mesh. (And we
complain about the modern rail system.)
Tourists from the industrial cities of the north
heading for the Ingleton Waterfalls disembarked at the
station to the east (where the information centre now is)
and were led by guides to the start of the walk, averting
eyes from the slap-dashed church, at least until 1886
when St Mary’s was rebuilt, retaining the old tower.
Inside the church there’s an interesting 12th century
font with carvings of gospel scenes. Ingleton is ancient,
appearing as Inglestune in the Domesday Book, but,
as Thos Johnson warns us, there are few old buildings
of interest. Around the viaduct and the entrance to the
waterfall walk, the main streets are lined with cafés and
shops and in summer the pavements are jostling with the
booted backpacked brigade.
The regions to the east and west of Ingleton drain to
the Greta, from below Tow Scar by becks flowing through
Two pages before: Barn near Burton-in-Lonsdale.
Left: Ingleton Viaduct, where Kingsdale Beck joins
Chapel Beck to become the Greta.
The Greta (above) near Barnoldswick and (below) at Scaleber Woods
The Greta from Kingsdale Beck 143
Thornton-in-Lonsdale and from Ingleborough Common,
south of Ingleborough, by Jenkin Beck and Aspland
Beck. Thornton-in-Lonsdale is the place furthest from
the Lune to acknowledge in its name an association with
it. A website for its Marton Arms says that “together with
historic St Oswald’s Church, they form the charming
hamlet of Thornton-in-Lonsdale.” There is a little more
to Thornton-in-Lonsdale than the pub and church, but
not much. The church is surprisingly large for such a
location and has a distinctive pyramid atop its tower. It
was rebuilt in 1933 after being burned down in a blizzard,
which sounds an event worth seeing.
Above Thornton-in-Lonsdale, on the road to the
radio station, there is an unusually smart barn. If you
peer through its windows, you will see its even more
unusual contents - a red sandstone arch. The explanation?
What else could it be but another Andy Goldsworthy
construction? This arch was built and dismantled at many
of the Goldsworthy Sheepfolds and ended up here.
Jenkin Beck forms the waterfall of Easegill Force
in a secluded gorge, falling behind a natural arch. The
beck dawdles across flat land to join the Greta 2km south
of Ingleton and it is followed shortly after by Aspland
Beck, which similarly runs uneventfully west from Cold
Cotes. Here, the bed of the Greta is adorned with multicoloured stones, reflecting the varied geology upstream,
and the banks are heavily eroded, revealing interesting
strata.
As the Greta approaches
Burton-in-Lonsdale
it
passes
Waterside Pottery, which it isn’t
but which reminds us that potteries
thrived here from the early 18th
century until after the Second World
War. At one time there were fifteen
potteries. The only evidence today
is the pockmarked appearance of
the fields, from which the shale was
dug. Burton-in-Lonsdale was called
‘Black Burton’, in reference to the
earthenware produced, or to the coal
and shale used, or to the smoke from
the kilns. Or perhaps to distinguish
our Burton from the other Burton,
Burton-in-Kendal, just 12km west
in limestone country, although I can
find no record of the latter being
called ‘White Burton’.
On the outskirts of Burton-in-Lonsdale, the Greta is
joined by a millrace that runs from the old corn mill at
Bogg Bridge. On the 1850 OS map this bridge is called
Mill Race Bridge and the watercourse, for the 10km
from its origins on the slopes below Gragareth to the
Greta, is the “Mill Race or Water Cut”. This indicates
the considerable efforts that were made to control the
flow of water in order to power mills. In this case there
were several mills on the route of the millrace. Today
the watercourse looks entirely natural below Masongill
Fell Lane. Perhaps it was only the section to harness
Gragareth’s water that was man-made.
The beck, if we may call it that, runs past Masongill
Hall, on the east of the village of Masongill. This is a
quiet cul-de-sac, with most residences being conversions
of traditional long-houses. Masongill is responsible for
another of Loyne’s tenuous links with celebrity: in 1883
the mother of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who was then
27) moved here. Literary sleuths, who earnestly seek the
inspiration for the creator of Sherlock Holmes, know
that he regularly visited his mother and was sufficiently
part of the region to be married in 1885 at St Oswald’s
Church in Thornton-in-Lonsdale, where a certificate in
the porch names the bride as Louisa Hawkins. Some of
them are convinced that Masongill House is Baskerville
Hall, minus the hound. Others are intrigued that a
Randall Sherlock, brother of the Rev. Sherlock, vicar of
Ingleton and Bentham, was killed by lightning at Ingleton
Masongill House
Ingleborough from Westhouse
station in 1874. I don’t know of any contemporary, local
comments on this ‘coincidence’ after Sherlock Holmes
made his appearance in A Study in Scarlet in 1887.
From Byber Mill the Water Cut seems not to follow
its old line but supplements Threaber Beck, which
joins Moor Gill from Westhouse near Low Threaber.
Westhouse is a distributed hamlet, with Higher, Lower
and Far Westhouse satellites. Its lodge, recently
renovated, has been given a new datestone of 1676.
The Wesleyan Chapel bears three dates, 1810, 1890 and
1912.
In 2002 over ten thousand native trees were planted
in fields north of Far Westhouse to create Edith’s Wood,
managed by the Woodland Trust. It is open to the public,
with benches from which to survey the growing trees,
with Ingleborough beyond. As the wood is a memorial,
we should remember to whom: Edith Bradshaw of
Ingleton, a teacher at Casterton School.
The Greta reaches the three-arched Burton Bridge,
with the sizable, ancient village of Burton-in-Lonsdale
on its northern slopes. It appeared as Borctune in the
Domesday Book and is the site of another motte and
bailey castle. In 1174, the de Mowbrays were ordered
to demolish the castle after an unsuccessful rebellion
against the king. A later stone castle stood until about
1350, since when the site has been abandoned. The motte,
at 10m high, is a prominent landmark, and remains of the
bailey and defensive ditches can still be seen, although
they are on private land.
Also prominent is the nearby steeple – a rarity in
Loyne – of the All Saints Church, completed in 1870.
The steeple is surfaced with wooden slats. There is also
a Methodist church, built in 1871. Like many Loyne
communities, Burton-in-Lonsdale joined in the general
questioning of the established church that began in the
17th and 18th centuries and, unlike nearby Bentham, it
came to side more with the Methodists than with the
Quakers. Maybe John Wesley’s visit in 1764 played
a part in this. So the churches are not particularly old
and neither are the houses. Most of those of any age
have been renovated, so that the neat Low Street, off
the A687, presents a parade of Smithy House, The Old
Ropery, and so on.
Motorists driving west through Burton-in-Lonsdale
will see a blue sign saying “Richard Thornton’s Church
of England Primary School” and may wonder who he is
or was. He died in 1865, having amassed a huge fortune
of over £3m from his shipping business, and left £10,000
Cant Beck 145
for a school for poor children in Burton-in-Lonsdale. He
also left £1m to his nephew Thomas Thornton, who duly
had the All Saints Church built. Behind the School is
the Old Vicarage, which has a plaque in its porch that
cannot be read without trespassing (I assume that it is to
the poet Laurence Binyon).
Below Burton-in-Lonsdale, the south bank of the
Greta is wooded, with two of the woods, Memorial
Plantation and Greta Wood, having recently been
acquired by the Woodland Trust. The former is typical
of 19th century small plantations on land that cannot be
farmed, with pine, beech and sycamore. Greta Wood is
an older ash and oak woodland, designated an Ancient
Semi-Natural Woodland. A riverside walk follows the
Greta west for 1km – and then stops. Perhaps it is more
for fishermen, who have given names to the various
stations along Blair’s Beat: Long Pool, Tommy’s Run,
The Dubs, and Black Hole.
The Greta runs west through secluded wooded
gullies, crossing the county border and the Roman road.
At Wrayton, the Greta passes under Greeta Bridge (as it
calls itself), which has been washed away a few times
but is now in more danger from the traffic on a difficult
junction of the A683 and A687. Just before the Greta
reaches the Lune, Cant Beck joins it from the north.
Laurence Binyon is a poet from whom, if not of whom,
everybody will have heard. He wrote the words intoned at
Remembrance Day events:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
The words are part of For the Fallen, which he wrote in
September 1914.
However, Burton-in-Lonsdale’s claim to Laurence
Binyon is a little weak. He was born in Lancaster in 1869,
moving a year later to Burton-in-Lonsdale, where his father
had been appointed the first vicar of All Saints Church. But
in 1874 the family left for Chelmsford. Later, working at
the British Museum, he became an authority on oriental
art.
We might imagine that the brief time in Burton-inLonsdale made little impression upon him but for his own
recollections of his first memories, which were of views
of Ingleborough from the vicarage windows. Ingleborough
inspired his poem Inheritance, which began “To a bare
blue hill” and ended “Beautiful, dark and solitary, the first
of England that spoke to me.”
Cant Beck
C
ant Beck is a surprisingly modest beck considering
that it drains the broad parishes of Ireby, Cantsfield
and Tunstall between Leck Beck and the Greta. It loses
the momentum gained in flowing off Ireby Fell, as Ireby
Beck, in a sluggish meander across gently undulating
pastures to Tunstall.
Ireby Beck begins life uncertainly on the southern
slopes below Gragareth, hovering around the county
border and seeming to disappear into various potholes.
The most impressive on the surface is Marble Steps Pot,
which is enclosed within the only cluster of trees on Ireby
Fell. It drops 130m. Along the line of the beck, 400m
south, is Low Douk Cave and across the county border
is Ireby Fell Cavern, a large depression with at least two
holes into which water disappears and one hole, a pipe
cemented into place (is planning permission needed for
these mutilations?), into which potholers disappear and in some numbers, it would seem, as a group of 25
of them needed rescuing after becoming trapped in the
cavern by heavy rain in October 2008.
I have been carefully vague in the preceding
paragraph because I read that, contrary to superficial
appearance on the map, the water falling into these holes
does not join Ireby Beck at all. The water in Marble
Steps resurges at Keld Head in Kingsdale; that of Ireby
Fell Cavern at Leck Beck Head (probably). Of course,
flows may have differed in the past and may differ in the
future. I leave this all to experts – as far as fell walkers are
concerned, the potholes mentioned can be conveniently
viewed together, above the head of Ireby Beck.
Once Ireby Beck is incontrovertibly established it
heads past some unnatural-looking mounds on the fell
(old diggings or homesteads?), by Over Hall, a tower
house dated 1687 and recently smartened up, with a
cairn-like structure in the drive, towards the village
of Ireby. As a rule of thumb, any village with a beck
flowing through its centre is at ease with itself. It soothes
and adds a timeless quality. In Ireby, the old-style red
telephone box, the only public amenity, enhances this
feeling. The houses, some of the 17th century, have been
tastefully renovated and given countrified names – all
very nice but perhaps without the character to detain a
visitor.
The fields west of Ireby Hall Farm form pleasant
and peaceful farming country, with fine views of
Ingleborough and Leck Fell. The Roman road that we
have been following cuts across here, but you would
not notice it on the ground without being told. Cowdber
Farm is so isolated that it feels it needs to put a “you are
nearly there” sign on the track to it. But the quietness
has its benefits: in the plantation near Churchfield House
is the largest heronry in Loyne. Southeast of Cowdber
is Collingholme, which promotes the good name of
the region through its Lune Valley Hampers business,
supplying luxury goods from locally produced food.
Most farms in the region have been converted, partially
or wholly, into homes for holidaymakers. Laithbutts
has gone further: it provides a home for holidaymakers’
homes. If you wish to put your caravan into storage,
there are large barns for it at Laithbutts.
To the south, Cantsfield is a small community on
the A687. The rather fine Cantsfield House, dating back
to the 16th century or earlier, has an oddly appealing
asymmetric frontage that was built by the Tatham family
in the early 18th century.
A visitor’s impression of a place can be unfair. I
noticed a sign saying “This bridleway is over private
land and is for the sole purpose of making a journey
to Tunstall and Tunstall Church. It is not a dog loo.
Please keep out unless you intend to complete the full
journey.” The map says that this is a public bridleway.
It runs through land for cows, horses and sheep and
at Abbotson’s Farm I had just plodded through their
contribution (much more substantial than a dog’s) to the
countryside aroma. And why must I complete the full
journey and not turn back?
As it happens, I had no wish to return to Cantsfield.
I pressed on to Tunstall’s St John the Baptist Church,
on the site of a chapel recorded in the Domesday Book.
It escaped the 19th century renovations that ‘improved’
most Loyne churches and as a result is mainly of the
15th century, with some parts thought to be pre-Norman.
A Roman votive stone from the Over Burrow fort was
built into an eastern window during a 1907 restoration.
St John the Baptist Church, Tunstall
Cant Beck 147
Despite all its merits the church is best known for the fact
that some girls used to come here in 1824. The Brontë
sisters ate their packed lunches here and it became the
Brocklebridge Church of Charlotte’s Jane Eyre.
Tunstall itself is 1km to the west, past the Old
School House of 1753. The old Post Office (which
it no longer is) bears a date “circa 1640”, which is
refreshingly honest and a warning to treat other dates (of
which there are several in Tunstall) with some suspicion.
Especially, perhaps, Marmaduke House, with a plaque
“Sir Marmaduke Tunstall 1506-57”, which I take to
be the date of Sir Marmaduke, not the house. As this
indicates, we are nearing the historic Tunstall family
home, Thurland Castle, by which Cant Beck flows.
Thurland Castle is open to the public only in the sense
that if you have half a million or so to spare you can buy
a flat and live in it – which is a shame for Loyne is short
of castles with pedigree. In Saxton’s map of 1579, often
regarded as the first map of England, Thurland Castle is
one of only four places in Loyne to be shown, the others
being Lancaster, Kirkby Lonsdale and Hornby Castle.
Sir Thomas Tunstall, knighted at Agincourt, was
granted a royal licence to fortify the site in 1402. The
most famous of the Tunstalls were Cuthbert, who became
Bishop of Durham from 1530 to 1559, and Sir Brian,
who was slain at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513
– the ‘stainless knight’ described in Scott’s Marmion:
“Tunstall lies dead upon the field, His life-blood stains
the spotless shield”.
The Tunstalls sold the castle in 1605 to the
Girlingtons and they were the owners when it was razed
to the ground during the Civil War. It was restored in the
old style in 1809 and in the 1860s was owned by Major
North North. No, that is not a misprint: he was born
North Burton and assumed the surname of North when
he succeeded to the estate of Richard Toulmin North, his
great-uncle.
The castle was rebuilt again in the 1880s after a fire.
It has, no doubt, been tastefully renovated for the tenants
of the twelve flats created from the castle and adjacent
stables. The castle can now only be glimpsed from afar
through trees. It consists of a circuit of walls and towers,
enclosed in a moat, with a drawbridge into a courtyard
but with no keep.
The estate agents try to give the castle some prestige
by asserting that “in 1809 the architect James Wyatt,
who was working on Windsor Castle at the time, was
commissioned to restore the castle.” James Wyatt (17461813) was the principal architect of the day and was
notorious for taking on more commissions than he could
manage. His nephew Jeffry Wyatt (1766-1840), later
Wyattville, was probably more involved with Thurland
Castle and it was he who later (1824 to 1836) carried out
a major renovation of Windsor Castle. Thurland Castle
does not feature highly in either architect’s portfolio.
A short distance after Cant Beck has joined, the
Greta reaches the Lune, which it enters in a straightened
westerly channel, as old maps show the Greta entering
the Lune in a long curve to the south of its present course.
Then, unnoticed (almost), Newton Beck sidles into the
Lune from the west.
The Greta joins the Lune
Palatine of Lancaster, written by Edward Baines in 1824
– which contains details of Whittington’s illustrious
ike most becks on the west bank of the Lune,
history. They are, however, not the same Edward Baines
Newton Beck begins in desultory fashion among
and, as far as I can determine, were unrelated.
the low, rolling hills and never really gets going. It
According to Baines (of the Gazetteer), before the
runs alongside the Lune for 5km from High Biggins,
Norman Conquest, Tostig, Earl of Northumbria and
just south of Kirkby Lonsdale. At High Biggins there
brother of Harold II, owned six carucates (over 2 sq km)
are, apart from the Old Hall, three halls of strikingly
in Whittington, which was regarded as the capital of the
different architecture: Biggins Hall Farm, a black-andregion between Sedbergh, Ingleton and Gressingham.
white, seemingly half-timbered house with a red-tiled
Tostig owned a further 20 sq km within this region. After
roof; Lonsdale Hall, a white Georgian mansion; Sellet
Tostig’s death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the estate
Hall, a more vernacular stone building.
was broken up and by 1090 Whittington had passed into
In 2006 the farm was sold in six lots (a subsequent
the hands of Roger of Poitou, who eventually owned all
proposal to use some buildings for storage was rejected);
of what was to become Lancashire. At Baines’s time,
Lonsdale Hall houses a management consultancy; Sellet
Whittington was one of five parishes in the deanery of
Hall is the home of a forestry management company.
Lonsdale (the others being Claughton, Melling, Tatham
Loyne has no stately mansions like, say, Chatsworth
and Tunstall).
House, but it has many halls for the landed gentry of
Some of this heritage may be appreciated by a
the Middle Ages and later. The story of these halls, and
stroll around the village, where several houses bear 17th
the attempts, of mixed success, to find them a role in the
century dates. The Manor House and T’Owd Rose Tree,
21st century, would make a fascinating contribution to
both 1658, share the prize for oldest house (subject to
the social history of the region.
appeal). Croft House in Main Street was the birthplace
Sellet Hall Beck and Pinfold Beck converge in the
in 1783 of William Sturgeon. As with other Loyne
village of Whittington, near an even more impressive
notables, the response is probably: Who?
hall, Whittington Hall. It was designed in 1831 for the
His plaque in Kirkby Lonsdale church predicted that
Lancaster MP, Thomas Greene, by George Webster, four
“His name will be perpetuated as long as the science he
of whose halls we have already met: Ingmire, Rigmaden,
cherished continues to exist”. The science of electricity
Whelprigg and Underley. It is similarly in the Elizabethan
has flourished but William Sturgeon has been almost
revival style, in this case with medieval features, such as
forgotten. As a boy he helped his father poach salmon
a peel tower. The best view of Whittington Hall is to be
from the Lune. He was then apprenticed to a cobbler
had on the path north from Outfield, where a walk is in
in Old Hutton, near Kirkby Lonsdale, but escaped in
silence apart from the screech of disturbed pheasants.
1802 by enlisting in the army where he taught himself
The hall is seen, from a distance admittedly, with the
enough science to be able to build the first practical
Howgills and Middleton Fell behind.
electromagnet in 1825 and to design the first rotary
East of the Hall is St Michael’s Church, which was
electric motor. Perhaps his untutored, practical, blunt,
probably founded as the chapel within
northern ways led to his neglect by the
the bailey of a motte and bailey castle.
gentlemen scientists of the day.
The tower, of 1600 or so, is the oldest
The becks merge to form Newton
part of the present church, which was
Beck beyond Newton, which, like
rebuilt in 1875. In the graveyard is a
Whittington, is old enough to be
headstone that reads “In memory of
in the Domesday Book. The beck
Edward Baines of Whittington who
eventually makes it way past the flood
died of Asiatic cholera on board the ship
embankment to join the Lune near
Brutus midway to America and was
Higher Broomfield. The finger of land
buried at sea June 3rd 1832”. Historians
beyond the footbridge over Newton
of Lancashire will be familiar with
Beck is not publicly accessible and
Baines’s Gazetteer, that is, The History,
is therefore a haven for birds, such as
Directory and Gazetteer of the County
snipe.
William Sturgeon plaque
Newton Beck
L
The Lune from Newton Beck ... 149
The Lune from Newton Beck ...
T
he Lune passes under the bridge for the WenningtonCarnforth railway line. To be precise, it passes
through the second of the six arches, which, although
the largest, seems not large enough for the Lune to be
channelled through. Is there an explanation?
There are, 500m east, a further sixteen arches. The
1847 OS map shows the Lune flowing there, with the
present course of the Lune, by Arkholme’s Chapel Hill,
then being a backwater marked as “old Lune”, indicating
that before 1847 the Lune had followed its present path.
Moreover, there is a second “old Lune” marked, near
Melling to the east, indicating a third Lune channel. In
short, the Lune has changed course frequently within
relatively recent times. It is thought that when the bridge
was built in 1867 the embankment between the two
sets of arches was on an island in the Lune. Today the
Melling Viaduct, which would form the longest bridge
across the Lune if only the Lune were still to run under
it, stands over ponds in green fields.
The railway line was built to link Furness Railway’s
eastern station at Carnforth with Midland Railway’s
‘little North Western’ line from Leeds to Lancaster,
and hence to link the growing port of Barrow with the
industries of Yorkshire. They must have been keen to
achieve this as the costs of such a long bridge and the
The Melling Viaduct
1km tunnel between Melling and Wennington must have
been high. When the Wennington-Lancaster line closed
in 1966, the Wennington-Carnforth line became part of
the Leeds-Lancaster route.
There were stations at both Arkholme and Melling
but they were closed in 1960. There is no footpath on
the railway line, the ferry across the Lune ended service
in the 1940s, and the ford has fallen into disuse, leaving
the two villages, only 1km apart, more separated now
than ever.
By fortune or foresight, the road in Arkholme runs
from the old ferry (from the Ferryman’s Cottage, in fact)
west for 1km to meet the Kirkby Lonsdale road at right
angles and is therefore a peaceful cul-de-sac. In summer,
colourful gardens face the road and there is a prettiness
and cheeriness, due to the relative absence of traffic. The
houses are strung out higgledy-piggledy, no two alike,
some old (17th century), some new (21st century).
Most of the older houses have names indicating
their previous lives, although I noticed none that refer
to the industry for which Arkholme was best known,
the making of baskets, from about 1700 to 1950. This
activity was typical of many Loyne industries, being
based on some local resource (here, osiers in the
Lune floodplain), intended to meet local needs (of, for
example, potato growers in Fylde), and passed on as a
family trade, but then succumbing to competition from
larger, more commercial ventures,
especially after the advent of the
railways.
On the other bank, its sister
Melling lies mainly along the busy
and narrow A683 and as a result
its doors and windows are shut, its
gardens are away from the road,
and people do not linger by the
noisy and dangerous traffic. Within
Melling, Green Close Studios,
which opened in 1997, has focussed
on locally-based art activities and
in 2009 initiated the Bowland Arts
Festival.
The future of Melling Hall,
an 18th century manor house,
more recently a hotel and now
a listed building, has been the
subject of a planning debate that
is an interesting example of the
difficulties of conservation policies. The building is a key
part of the Melling Conservation Area, and the Lancaster
District policy is that no pub or hotel will be converted
to residential use unless it can be demonstrated to be no
longer viable, even if, as in this case, it was originally
a residence. No buyer could be found to sustain it as a
The old Arkholme railway station
St Wilfrid’s Church, Melling
hotel and, after some controversy, it has been converted
into flats.
Arkholme and Melling are listed in the Domesday
Book as Ergune and Mellinge, respectively. The parish
boundary between them lies near Melling, where the
Lune once flowed. Both Arkholme and Melling had
their motte and bailey castles and in
both cases a church has been built,
as at Whittington, within the bailey.
Arkholme’s St John the Baptist
Church is tucked below, almost
into, the motte, which is 30m in
diameter. Melling’s St Wilfrid’s is a
larger church, with a long nave and
square tower, and is a Biological
Heritage Site because of the lichens
on its gravestones. The Melling
motte is now a feature in the garden
of the Old Vicarage.
The Arkholme motte is close to
the Lune Valley Ramble, which the
Lune has accompanied from Kirkby
Lonsdale, and below Arkholme the
Ramble shares footsteps with the
Lunesdale Walk, a name that is even
more of an exaggeration than the
Ramble since its 59km cover only
6km of the Lune. The walk traces
an elaborate figure of eight route
from Carnforth to Roeburndale.
The Lune runs by flat, green
pastures on the east, where the old
Lune has created many ditches and
where enormous logs have been left
stranded by floods. Bank erosion
continues apace, and the Lune
shifts between various channels,
running by pebble beaches and
new islands. To the west, there are
gentle hills, on the horizon of which
can be seen the turrets of Storrs
Hall, which was rebuilt in 1850,
and from which minor tributaries
such as Bains Beck and Thrush Gill
enter the Lune. The hills are not
high, reaching only 142m at Cragg
Lot, but nevertheless there is an
application to put five 125m wind
The Lune from Newton Beck ... 151
turbines on them. This proposal is ominous for
the Lune valley, for if turbines are built in such a
location then no field and no view within the Lune
valley is safe.
The Lune reaches Loyn Bridge, which was
built in 1684 or before – it is known that an earlier
bridge was reported as dangerous in 1591. The
bridge is built of sandstone blocks and has three
arches, the outer ones of 16m and the inner of
19m. The piers have pointed cutwaters that provide
alcoves on the 4m-wide carriageway. The bridge
provides the only vehicular crossing of the Lune
for about 8km in either direction. It is clearly sturdy
enough to withstand Lune floods but no doubt its
builders knew that when the Lune is high it takes a
short cut across the fields to the west, as damage to
the hedgerows shows.
Above Loyn Bridge to the east is Castle
Stede, the remains of a motte and bailey castle
(our eighth, if you are counting). When Castle
Stede was abandoned as a castle, later buildings
did not engulf it, so the original structures are well
preserved. We can see the 15m-high motte and the bailey,
with its defensive ramparts and ditch, and appreciate the
strategic position overlooking the Lune valley. Strictly,
it is off the public footpath but it is tempting to wander
over the causeway (probably where the original entrance
Erosion of the Lune bank near Arkholme
was) into the bailey and transport oneself back to the 12th
century by imagining the bustle of activity – kitchens,
stables, maybe a chapel – below the lord’s hall on the
motte.
At Loyn Bridge we enter for the first time the
Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,
Loyn Bridge
although we are still some distance from typical Bowland
country. The ambivalent regard for the Bowland region
is indicated by the inclusion of “Bowland and the Lune
Valley” (where they mean the lower Lune valley) as one
of twelve projects within the Culture 2000 European
Pathways to Cultural Landscapes programme, funded by
the European Union. This sounds like an honour indeed
– until we read that the project is “dedicated to ‘marginal’
landscapes, border regions and landscapes whose image
is one of poverty and historical insignificance”.
The Lune passes below Priory Farm, which is on
the site of an old Premonstratensian priory, that is, one
belonging to the order of ‘White Canons’ (from the
colour of their habit) founded at Prémontré in France.
Shortly after, the small Gressingham Beck enters from
the west. This beck gathers the waters from the rolling
green hinterland beyond the western ridge and, with
The Forest of Bowland was designated an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1964 and its 800
sq km make it the 11th largest of the 41 AONBs in England
and Wales. An AONB designation recognises a region’s
scenic qualities and implies a commitment to conserve
its flora, fauna and landscape features, consistent with the
needs of residents. Only the northern third of Bowland lies
within Loyne. The remainder, reached by the two bleak
roads to Slaidburn or through the Trough of Bowland,
drains to the Wyre or Ribble.
The Forest of Bowland is a forest in the historical sense
of an unenclosed, outlying region of little use except for
hunting. Bowland was originally a Royal Forest, although
no sovereign is known to have hunted here. However, Henry
VI was himself hunted, when in 1465, during the Wars
of the Roses, he hid in Bolton-by-Bowland. Traditional
hunting has long gone, to be replaced by grouse shooting,
mainly on land owned by England’s richest aristocrat, the
Duke of Westminster. Until the Countryside and Rights of
Way Act took effect in 2004 (launched in Bowland), this
was England’s largest area without public access.
Lower Bowland consists of rolling green pastures
with picturesque grey stone buildings. The upland areas are
of millstone grit, with thin layers of sandstone and shale
on the slopes, giving rise to open and wild upland areas
of blanket bog and heather moorland that are incised by
fast becks to form steep cloughs and wooded valleys. The
wilderness areas of Bowland remain largely unspoilt by
exploitation, with the works of the water authorities and
the Forestry Commission lying mainly outside Loyne. The
higher fells have been maintained in a relatively natural
state for the sheep and grouse and, since 2004, humans.
High Dam Beck (which runs from the ‘high dam’ that
used to power the mill), channels them through the
ancient village of Gressingham.
Gressingham is another of Earl Tostig’s holdings
that was listed in the Domesday Book (as Ghersinctune)
but nothing much has happened here since. The small
triangle of homesteads and the line of dwellings by the
beck are quietly attractive, as is the church with its 12th
century arch in the doorway, but the village does little
to draw attention to itself. As far as I am aware, it does
not even claim an association with the one thing that
makes its name famous, the Gressingham Duck, which
features on the best menus. However, assiduous research
(I asked the producers of the duck) revealed that “the
chap who first bred the duck is called Peter Dodd, [who]
lived in the village of Gressingham in Lancashire … the
breeding stock [was moved to] Suffolk in 1990”.
Next, the River Wenning joins the Lune from the
east.
The Norman doorway of Gressingham church
CHAPTER 10:
The Wenning
Headwaters
154 Chapter 10: The Wenning Headwaters
▲ Simon Fell
Ingleborough ▲
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Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The River Wenning ... 155
T
The River Wenning ...
he Wenning has the most dramatic birth of all the
Lune’s tributaries. It springs forth at Swine Tail
just below Ingleborough’s plateau, gathers a few
more becks to form Fell Beck, and then plunges headlong
into the awesome chasm of Gaping Gill, Britain’s most
famous pothole.
The waters fall 111m, making it Britain’s largest
unbroken waterfall, according to the Guinness Book of
Records. The hole was first descended (intentionally) in
1895 by the French caver, Edouard Martel. He mapped
the main chamber, which is large enough, it is often said,
for York Minster to be fitted in. However, the latest laser
technology has measured the chamber as 136m by 46m,
and therefore the nave and transepts of the minster (at
159m by 75m) would be seriously damaged by any such
attempt.
You can judge for yourself by taking the winch that
local potholing clubs fit up at bank holiday weekends.
It is often said that it is free to go down ... but there’s a
charge to come up. In fact, they insist that you pay at the
top, in case you should disappear forever underground.
No, I must be fair: they are most solicitous about our
well-being and careful to count us all down and count us
all up again.
It is certainly an unforgettable
experience, as you sink slowly in
the cage below the diminishing
skylight, past the green, then grey,
then black, walls of the cavern, in
the shower of Fell Beck (although
most of it has been kindly diverted
away). On the floor of the cavern,
the water largely percolates
away through the boulders and
it is possible to scramble around
searching into various crannies of
the chamber. After a while, nontroglodytes would like to escape
– and then a problem becomes
clear: what goes down must come
up. On the surface, a numberedticket queuing system enables you
to lounge around, having a picnic,
smiling as people return drenched
and blinking, as you wait your
turn. Below, there isn’t: you must
stand in line. And if you waited 45 minutes in the sun on
top, you will have to wait 45 minutes in the cold, dark
Fell Beck shower below (or even longer, as potholers
tend to enter the cavern from elsewhere and lazily take
a ride out).
I see that there is now a leaflet advertising these
bank holiday treats and that the winch now operates for
a week. It’ll be a permanent tourist attraction soon, with
a snack bar and souvenir shop nearby, and umbrellas for
the queue below.
The geology of Gaping Gill is as we have come to
expect. Water streams off the gritstone on the eastern
slopes of Ingleborough and then disappears into the
limestone layer. Faulting has occurred at Gaping Gill to
enable such a large chasm to form. The Fell Beck water
then makes its way underground over the impermeable
slate and eventually emerges in Clapdale at the cave
spring of Beck Head to become Clapham Beck.
Potholers have found a difficult and dangerous way
through from Gaping Gill to Beck Head but over ground
we must make our way through the more appealing Trow
Two pages before: Austwick and Norber.
Below: Gaping Gill.
Trow Gill
Gill. This is a dry gorge, with boulders heaped at the top,
between steep limestone cliffs. Trow Gill was caused by
a flood of meltwater after the Ice Age.
Below Trow Gill we enter Clapdale. On its eastern
side runs Long Lane, which is part of an ancient track
from Ribblesdale. From it, Thwaite Lane, an equally
ancient track that used to lead to Fountains Abbey,
heads east. As Long Lane approaches Clapham it passes
under two dank tunnels, built to protect the privacy of
Ingleborough Hall, a hall with no view of Ingleborough.
The Pennine Cycleway, which we met in the Lune
Gorge, passes through these tunnels, which must form
the only part of the cycleway upon which cyclists are
advised not to cycle!
On the west bank of Clapdale is Clapdale Drive,
which provides the most gentle of Dales walks. The
Farrer family created the drive for the carriages of guests
at their Ingleborough Hall in Clapham and, later, tourists
arriving by train at Clapham Station. Below a gate, the
drive becomes an artificially delightful environment
of trees, shrubs and lake, forming the Reginald Farrer
Nature Trail. As was the fashion, a grotto was added
to provide a romantic character that was presumably
perceived to be lacking. You may test your skill at
identifying trees and shrubs by ticking off ash, beech,
box, chestnut, European silver fir, larch, laurel, holly,
holm oak, Norway spruce, red oak, rhododendron, Sitka
spruce, Scots pine, and no doubt several others. Do not,
however, stray from the trail in your search, as there are
many warnings of “hidden dangers”, which I think mean
that you will be mistaken for a pheasant and shot.
By the cross in Clapham there is a footpath sign
informing walkers that it is 102m to the Brokken Bridge.
Clapham tries hard to be perfect. The natural valley of
Clapham Beck has been transformed with alien species
to provide a parkland stroll; the old village of Clapham
was redesigned by the Farrer family; St James’s Church,
which lists vicars back to 1160, was rebuilt in 1814 by the
Farrers; and now Clapham Beck runs from the waterfall
outlet of the lake through the village under several
unreasonably pretty bridges. Clapham’s tourist leaflet
lists the various attractions and services but does not
mention the Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation,
presumably not wishing to alarm tourists.
Two kilometres south of Clapham, a tributary from
the east joins Clapham Beck, which now becomes called
the River Wenning. This tributary has been formed 1km
east by the merger of Austwick Beck (from the north),
Fen Beck (from the east) and Kettles Beck (from the
south).
The Farrer family are largely responsible for the
attractiveness that we see today in Clapham.
Oliver Farrer, a rich lawyer, bought the estate in the
early 19th century. His two nephews, James and Oliver, replanned the estate, including the building of the tunnels and
the replacement of much of the old village. They created
the drive and in 1837 opened Ingleborough Cave, the first
show cave in the region. It is apparent that Clapham Beck
used to flow through Ingleborough Cave. Today, visitors
may explore the floodlit passages for 1km underground to
see the 300m-year-old stalagmites and stalactites.
Reginald Farrer (1880-1920) was a botanist and
plant collector, particularly of exotic species from Asia,
many of which he introduced to Europe and especially
to the Clapham estate. He was also a painter and novelist
but he is most remembered for his botanical books, such
as The Garden of Asia, Alpines and Bog Plants, and My
Rock Garden. His name has been given to many of the
plants he introduced, such as gentiana farreri. He died in
the mountains of Burma, where, as the Buddhist he had
become, he was buried.
The Farrer family still own much of the estate around
the parish of Clapham.
The River Wenning ... 157
The Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) is a charity run
by volunteers to provide a rescue service around the Three
Peaks region. The emphasis on cave rescue in the title
reflects its history and the fact that these incidents are the
most demanding in terms of time, expertise and equipment
but nowadays 80% of CRO’s call-outs are to non-caving
incidents.
In the seven years 2002-2008 the CRO was called out
to 342 incidents, which is nearly one a week. These can be
classified as: walker (150), caver (74), animal (51), climber
(14), runner (11), cyclist (8), and other (34). Many of these
incidents involved more than one person: for example, on
October 4th 2008, 44 cavers were rescued in four separate
call-outs. The ‘other’ includes a motley collection of
mishaps, involving a foolhardy diver off Thornton Force,
someone who fell out of a tree, the rescue of cars stuck
in mud on the Occupation Road, the investigation of
abandoned canoes, and so on.
To assess the severity of incidents we can further
classify them as: fatal/involving injury/becoming lost,
exhausted or trapped. The caving incidents are 5/21/48,
although this 5 includes a person who collapsed and died in
White Scar Caves. Climbing incidents (1/11/2) are usually
serious. Although injuries are usually minor, walking
incidents (10/82/58) seem worst in terms of fatalities. The
10 fatalities include 5 heart attacks, 3 falls over a rock face,
and 2 unspecified. (Don’t have nightmares: these incidents
are still rare.)
The falls from the lake at Clapham
Austwick Beck
A
t the head of Crummackdale a sizable beck
emerges from a couple of gashes in the fell-side.
This is called Austwick Beck Head but we are alert to
this situation now. The beck emerges after percolating
through the limestone fells above it and reaching the
impermeable lower layer at this level. The OS map
shows becks flowing off Simon Fell in this direction
only to disappear into potholes such as Juniper Gulf.
Tests show that this water emerges several days later at
Austwick Beck Head.
Austwick Beck Head is in an amphitheatre
surrounded by limestone scars. Its sheltered setting and
supply of fresh water no doubt encouraged the medieval
or earlier settlements, traces of which can still be seen.
Documents of the 13th century show that farming was at
that time active in Crummackdale. It is entirely livestock
farming now but this has only been so since the essentials
of life (bread and beer) could be transported from
elsewhere. There was arable farming in Crummackdale
until the 19th century.
Opposite Crummack farm on Studrigg Scar is a
clear geological unconformity, with Silurian slates at 60
degrees below horizontal beds of limestone. The cliffs
on the eastern edge of Crummackdale rim the extensive
limestone plateau of Moughton, from which there are
splendid views of Pen-y-Ghent. The flora of Moughton
is surprising, for there are shrubs of juniper and heather.
The juniper is a rare remnant of the woodlands that
covered the region thousands of years ago. Heather does
not grow on soil derived from limestone but somehow
here sufficient soil has become raised high enough not to
receive the alkaline water draining from the limestone.
In the past the heather must have attracted enough
grouse to encourage the construction of shooting butts,
an unusual feature on limestone terraces.
Careful study of the OS map reveals lines of grouse
butts on the southern and eastern slopes of Ingleborough.
Careful study on the ground reveals nothing much:
the butts were last used many decades ago and have
merged into their surroundings. The Farrers had bought
the Ingleborough manor as a shooting estate, the peaty
slopes being heather covered at that time. However,
over-grazing by sheep long ago removed all the heather
apart from a few remnants such as that on Moughton.
Before exploring Moughton, ensure that you are
fully familiar with a way off because it is surrounded
Austwick Beck 159
Opposite: Ingleborough from Moughton. Above: Studrigg Scar. Below: Moughton.
Robin Proctor’s Scar and Norber
by quarries, steep cliffs and high walls. In the north the
footpath that runs from Crummackdale past Moughton
Scars is safe. In the south a high stile can be seen on
the horizon from the path that leads north from Wharfe.
However, it is in a state of disrepair, so it may be wise to
check before relying on it to get off Moughton.
Wharfe is a community of a dozen or so houses,
the owners of which have agreed not to waste money on
surfaced roads or exterior paint. So the cottages lie along
narrow, stony tracks and are of grey stone that seems at
one with the cliffs behind.
Across the valley from Wharfe lie the famous Norber
erratics. These are so well known that few people today
will reach these fields completely unprepared for the
sight of dark boulders scattered incongruously on white
limestone but the number and size of the boulders will
surely astonish anyone. Their presence here must have
been a great mystery, until it was all explained to us.
As is now described in many textbooks, Ice Age
glaciers transported the boulders here from the Silurian
slate that underlies Austwick Beck Head and outcrops in
Crummackdale. The highest boulders now lie at about
340m. Austwick Beck Head is at 280m. The immense
forces at work during the Ice Age are indicated by the
fact that these huge boulders were lifted not just along
but also up the valley.
When the ice melted, the Silurian slate boulders
were left above the younger Carboniferous limestone
rocks. As we know, the latter is eroded by rainwater but
here the limestone under the boulders has been protected
and, as a result, many boulders are now perched on
pedestals above the general level. The height of the
pedestals (about 50cm) is a measure of the erosion since
the Ice Age.
Below the erratics are Nappa Scars, with another
example of unconformity, and the cliff-face of Robin
Proctor’s Scar, a name that demands an explanation.
There are several but they have in common the legend
that one Robin Proctor rode his horse over the precipice
to their deaths – a small price to pay to have one’s name
immortalised in full on Ordnance Survey maps.
These cliffs and those behind Wharfe, together
with the various ridges and contortions in the fields
of Crummackdale, tell us that this was a geologically
Austwick Beck 161
active area long ago – long before the Norber erratics
coincidentally added further geological interest. This
is the line of the North Craven Fault that we met at
Thornton Force above Ingleton. After the Silurian period
the layers of sandstone were crumpled and subsequently
eroded to leave steeply bedded, folded strata that are
now exposed in places. After the Carboniferous period
the area was raised above sea level with the greatest and
most irregular movements along the Craven Faults.
Austwick Beck passes the ancient village of
Austwick, the old core of which is surrounded by modern
houses, indicating that a legendary practice failed to
achieve its purpose. According to tradition, the residents
of Austwick used to pretend to be simpletons in order to
discourage outsiders from moving in. Harry Speight’s
Craven Highlands (1895) gives several examples of
Austwickian stupidity – but with no suggestion that this
was feigned. Today, Austwick revels in its reputation as
the ‘Cuckoo Town’. It would do better to revel in the
magnificent scenery with which it has been blessed.
There are man-made, as well as geological,
features to be seen in the landscape. Across the beck
from Austwick, Oxenber Wood is pockmarked with
old quarries, and common rights still permit Austwick
parishioners to gather stones there. Oxenber Wood and
the adjacent Wharfe Wood are old wood pastures that
are CRoW land. The dominant trees are
ash and hazel, with some hawthorn and
rowan, and, at the northern end, birch and
holly. The ground flora includes various
herbs such as wild thyme, salad burnet,
dog’s mercury and wood sorrel.
Also visible, especially in a low sun,
to the west and east of Austwick are the
stripes of ancient strip lynchets. These
are terraces up to 10m wide that were
created by Anglo-Saxons from the 7th
century onwards as they ploughed along
contours. These are the first lynchets we
have met and indicate how far west the
Anglo-Saxons colonised. Sometimes the
characteristic stone walls of the Dales
cross the lynchets, telling us that the
former are younger. Originally, a farmer
owned several strips of land but they
were distributed about different fields
in order to be fair to all. The need to
improve efficiency led to the creation of
The Top 10 dales in Loyne
1. Crummackdale
2. Dentdale
3. Kingsdale
4. Borrowdale
5. Roeburndale
6. Barbondale
7. Grisedale
8. Bretherdale
9. Littledale
10. Bowderdale
(Does Chapel-le-Dale count as a dale?)
individually owned enclosures, in a complex process
that began informally in the 12th century and became
enforced by parliamentary acts in the 18th century. The
stone walls were built to delimit the enclosures.
Below Austwick, Austwick Beck passes the old
and new Harden Bridge, a name that reminds us of
Austwick’s weaving industry that survived until the
late 19th century, harden being a kind of coarse linen
made from the hard parts of flax. By Harden Bridge is a
campsite that uses buildings that until the 1980s formed
an isolation hospital for people with infectious diseases.
A Norber erratic
Walls and lynchets in Crummackdale
Walk 18: Crummackdale and the Norber Erratics
Starting point: By Austwick Bridge (769683) or elsewhere in Austwick.
This walk takes in many of the visible geological features of Crummackdale and also provides fine views of limestone
scenery.
Walk north through Austwick past a school to Town Head Lane on the left. 300m up the lane, before the last house on the
right, take the footpath through its garden. Across three fields you meet up again with Crummack Lane, which you cross to head
west for Nappa Scars. You can then stroll through the Norber erratics, heading for the stile in the northern corner (766703). From
the stile make your way north 2km along the indistinct ridge of Thwaite, which provides a good view of Ingleborough, to the
prominent cairn at Long Scar. From there take the clear path that runs to Sulber Gate, 1.5km northeast, with views of Pen-yGhent. Two hundred years ago this path was part of the Lancaster to Newcastle coach road.
Follow the path south over Thieves Moss to the fine Beggar’s Stile and then walk past ancient settlements and Crummack
farm and, 1km on from the farm, turn left to the ford and clapper bridge (that is, a bridge using long slabs of local rock) over
Austwick Beck at Wash Dub, where the sheep used to be cleansed. The unconformities on Studrigg Scar are visible from the track
from Crummack farm but for a closer look detour briefly up the track north from Wash Dub.
From the bridge follow the track 1km southeast to Wharfe. Continue through Wharfe to the road and then after a few metres
take the path right that leads over a footbridge and ford. Turn west, above the Wharfe Gill Sike waterfall, which deserves full
marks for effort, producing a fine cascade from only a trickle, and then by Jop Ridding to Wood Lane and back to Austwick
Bridge.
There is much to see on this walk and if you wish to take your time over it you might prefer to split the walk in two and do
the western half one day and the eastern half (including Moughton) on another day.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk as far as the cairn on Long Scar. Then turn east to drop down to the farm of Crummack.
From there follow the track and Crummack Lane for 4km south to Austwick.
Fen Beck 163
Fen Beck
F
en Beck arises on the easternmost edges of Loyne,
around Feizor and Lawkland. In this gently
undulating land below limestone scars the watershed is
uncertain. Some houses in Feizor used to be considered
to be in the parishes of Clapham and Giggleswick (on
the Ribble) in alternate years. Feizor itself is an out-ofthe-way hamlet, nestled neatly under the cliffs of Pot
Scar, a favourite with climbers. Southwest of Feizor is
the Yorkshire Dales Falconry and Wildlife Conservation
Centre, established in 1991 to help preserve birds of
prey.
The parish of Lawkland is even more of a backwater.
The main route from York to Lancaster used to pass by
Lawkland Hall but the parish now lies anonymously
between the busy A65 and the less busy LeedsLancaster railway line. The oldest part of the Grade I
listed Lawkland Hall is 16th century, and much folklore
surrounds the hall’s peel tower and priest hole. From
the 16th century until 1914 the renowned Ingleby family
of Ripley, Yorkshire owned the hall. The Inglebys also
acquired the manor of Austwick and Clapham. Arthur
Ingleby rebuilt the hall in 1679 and when he died in 1701
left money, apart from to dependents, for a schoolmaster
and three poor scholars at Eldroth Chapel. Overall,
though, it seems that the Catholic Inglebys preferred to
keep a low profile, to which Lawkland is well suited.
Lawkland Hall
Somehow it seems appropriate that the central
feature of Lawkland is the extensive peat land of
Austwick and Lawkland Mosses, a Site of Special
Scientific Interest. This now rare form of habitat was
once much more common, as indicated by the many
place names with “moss” in them. Lowland bogs are
peat lands that have developed over thousands of years
under waterlogged conditions. Over time, the surface
of the peat, formed by plant debris, is raised above the
groundwater level, resulting in a ‘raised mire’. Typically,
they are gently domed, but here peat cutting has obscured
this impression.
From a distance Austwick Moss is seen as an island
of ancient trees and scrub surrounded by pastures. It is
also an island of CRoW land, inaccessible by public
footpath, which is just as well because it is difficult, wet,
tussocky walking. The conditions support many bog
mosses and, in drier parts, birch woodland and fenland.
Various wading birds, such as lapwing, redshank, reed
bunting and snipe, and rare insects, such as the small
pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, find a home there. It’s
good to know it’s there, for the benefit of the birds and
insects, but, in truth, it’s a damp, desolate place of little
appeal to most of us.
Eldroth Chapel
Kettles Beck
K
ettles Beck is the first of many becks that we will
meet that flow north off the Bowland Fells and that,
because they flow over millstone grit, slate and sandstone
covered with glacial till, have a different character to
the becks of the mainly limestone Yorkshire Dales. At
first, the marked contrast between the dry whiteness of
the Dales and the muddy darkness of Bowland rather
depresses the spirits.
Bowland valleys tend to be deeply eroded, with fastflowing becks tumbling through rocky channels over
small waterfalls. Trees have largely been cleared although
patches of ancient woodland remain in some steep-sided
valleys and there are a few conifer plantations, such as
Brow Side Plantation by Kettles Beck. The valleys are
rural, with verdant, rolling fields for cattle and sheep.
Population is sparse, being scattered in small villages
and isolated farmsteads, the latter being evenly but
thinly distributed, although many are no longer actively
farming. The buildings are usually of local gritstone,
adding to the sombre greyness, particularly in winter.
The farms are situated by flowing water and there is
A Kettlesbeck welcome for visitors: a stile on the
public footpath near East Kettlesbeck, with
eye-level barbed wire
Knotteranum
Kettles Beck ... 165
often evidence, in the form of old millraces, weirs, and
so on, that it has been harnessed to power mills. There
are few hamlets above the main rivers of the Wenning
and Hindburn, and the lanes are narrow and winding,
with only two crossing the dark, bleak watershed to
Slaidburn.
The valley farmsteads are sheltered compared to
the windy, open higher fells. The fells are of heather
and grass, generally boggy and with few walls. The
high fells will be discussed further when we reach the
highest points of Bowland, but Kettles Beck itself arises
at the not very high but impressively knobbly peaks of
Bowland Knotts (430m) and Knotteranum (405m), on
the Lancashire – North Yorkshire border. The ridge is
one of the finest gritstone outcrops in Bowland, with
great jumbles of huge rocks, enabling a good scramble
for those venturing a brief walk from the road at the
watershed.
Kettles Beck runs 6km south from the boggy ground
of Austwick Common through farmland that has not
inspired the locals in their farm names: there’s a High,
East, New and Low Kettlesbeck (although Israel Farm
is more intriguing). It doesn’t inspire me much either
although walking down beside Kettles Beck one can
look wistfully across to Ingleborough.
The Wenning from Kettles Beck ...
T
he Wenning runs east, being first joined by Crook
Beck, which runs from Newby Moor on the southern
slopes of Ingleborough through Newby Cote and Newby
and across the rough ground of Newby Moss. This
extensive area of common land is now a Site of Special
Scientific Interest, noted for its purple moor-grass,
mosses and fens. There are also breeding birds such as
curlew, lapwing, redshank and snipe and a population
of the small pearl-bordered fritillary that perhaps flutters
between here and Lawkland Moss.
The green hillocks that rise to 200m running west
from Clapham towards Bentham and Ingleton are fields
of drumlins created by glacial ice sheets flowing off the
hills of the Yorkshire Dales. The oval-shaped contours
on the map indicate the east to west trend of the glaciers.
The gentle slopes of the drumlins and their rich boulder
clay soil provided good sites for settlement and farming
from prehistoric times, which is shown in the increasing
occurrence of the Old English -ham, -ber and -ton in place
names. The grazed pastures are divided into irregular
patterns by stone walls and hedgerows, reflecting their
origins as pre-medieval fields rather than the later, more
systematic, enclosures of the higher fells.
Walk 19: Ingleborough and Gaping Gill
Starting point: At Newby Cote (732705), where there is space for one or two cars; otherwise by the green in Newby (727701).
None of the four well-worn routes up Ingleborough (from Ingleton, Clapham, Horton and Chapel-le-Dale) provides a
satisfactory loop walk. I prefer to walk from Newby Cote on a grassy path from which we saw the new millennium dawn.
Follow the track north, through the gate and by the wall to the open fell. Bear slightly left. After ten minutes or so Little
Ingleborough comes into view. Pick up the broad green path up it. From Little Ingleborough the beaten track to Ingleborough is
obvious. After a tour of the summit plateau, take the clear path east (part of the Three Peaks route). Note the Fell Beck spring (the
source of the Wenning) close by the path. After 1km cross a stile but after a further 1km don’t cross a second stile - instead, follow
the wall south at the foot of The Allotment. A path just above the limestone terrace runs 10m or so west of the wall.
A fence will be seen partially enclosing Juniper Cave. Juniper Gulf, into which falls water that becomes Austwick Beck,
is just above it. There’s a series of potholes, dangerous and difficult to find – don’t bother, as they do not compare with what’s
ahead. Keep near the wall. Eventually, a wall comes to it at right angles, leaving a gap. Don’t go through the gap but follow the
wall right and then left. A stile will be seen just ahead. Cross it and continue due west, which brings you to the unmistakable
chasm of Gaping Gill.
Take the path south (which leads to Clapham) and when a stile comes into view after about 150m bear half right. There are
many vague paths here but basically keep west of the wall, between the shakeholes, until, after 2km, as the wall swings south,
you see ahead the gap between the green pastures by which you gained access to the moor. Cut across the dry Cote Gill and
thence to Newby Cote.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk as far as Little Ingleborough. (Continue to Ingleborough only if it is irresistible.) Turn
south east and follow the path to Gaping Gill. Continue, as for the long walk, back to Newby Cote.
The now well-established Wenning passes under
Clapham Viaduct, which, unlike earlier viaducts,
has no aesthetic merit. The viaduct carries the LeedsLancaster railway line. The original plan was to build
the Lowgill-Clapham line via Ingleton first but work on
this was suspended and instead the branch to Lancaster,
completed in 1850, became the main line, with the
Lowgill line eventually completed in 1861. The line to
Wennington runs down the Wenning valley, naturally
without all the meanders of the river, which it crosses
seven times in all.
Just beyond the viaduct the Wenning is joined
by Jack Beck, which runs past Jack Beck House,
where painting courses are run by the painter Norma
Stephenson. I like her description of her modus operandi
for producing her semi-abstract pastels of the northern
fells: “dissatisfaction sets in ... almost always ... because
the painting has become too explicit. Radical measures
are required ... I will often dribble water into the pastel,
causing rivulets and textured effects, or I will sweep my
hand across the surface to remove detail.” I have tried
this with the creation you are reading, to no great benefit,
alas. I conclude that it is not a work of art.
Beyond the new Skew Bridge, Keasden Beck joins
the Wenning.
Keasden Beck
O
ur journey has taken us to many hidden and unknown
becks but compared to Keasden Beck they are all
gaudily extrovert. Nobody seems ever to have written
a good or bad word about Keasden Beck. There are
no postcards of Keasdendale (in fact, I may have just
invented ‘Keasdendale’). In the 4km from Gregson’s
Hill to Turnerford Bridge there are no footpaths in the
valley or across it. There is no road in the valley: all
the farmsteads are reached by private tracks from the
Clapham to Bowland Knotts road.
However, now that all of Burn Moor above the
pastures has been made CRoW land we can at least gain
a long distance view into this secretive valley. Burn
Moor is tough going: all heather, grass tussocks and bog.
When it was restricted to grouse shooting Burn Moor
was called the ‘forbidden moor’: now, ‘forbidding’
would be a better word. There is a good path on springy
peat (in summer) along the ridge from Bowland Knotts
to Great Harlow (486m) and over Thistle Hill, but
elsewhere walking is a struggle. Should your eye catch
upon Ravens Castle and Raven’s Castle on the map,
be warned that there are no castles, although there are
ravens. And yet there is compensation up here. The
Keasdendale
Keasden Beck 167
silence is complete, apart from birds such as skylark,
curlew and merlin, and the view of the Three Peaks is
much better than from the road, from where Whernside
is rather obscured by Ingleborough.
The most striking feature on an aerial photograph
of Burn Moor is the large stripes of different shades of
green. At first glance they look like the fairways of golf
courses. They are in fact the result of burning practices
and remind us that the fells are far from natural, despite
their familiar appearance.
After the last Ice Age the hills became covered with
broadleaved woodland, which was cleared from about
3000 BC. Peat then formed from decaying vegetation on
the gentle slopes and hilltops, so creating blanket bog.
We use words like ‘bog’, ‘heath’ and ‘marsh’ informally
but scientists need precise definitions. For them, ‘blanket
bog’ is peat deeper than 50cm (even if it is dry). Less
Above: Bowland Knotts.
Right: The ‘Standard on Burn Moor’ boundary stone,
marked on OS maps.
deep peat is ‘heath’ if there is at least 25% cover of
small shrub heather-like plants; otherwise it is ‘marsh’
or ‘marshy grassland’. It all gets more complicated,
as there are different types of bog, heath and marsh,
depending on altitude, slope, hydrology, geology, and
so on. Although the vast areas of Bowland’s bogs and
heaths may seem ample, they are actually rare in global
terms and, because of the threat to the Bowland Fells,
are priority habitats in the UK’s Biodiversity Action
Plan.
Keasden Beck gathers all the water that flows east
and north from the Burn Moor watershed, which here
forms the county border. Like all Bowland becks, it cuts
through hard millstone grit, occasionally exposing layers
of underlying sandstone and shale.
After a hidden run through the valley, Keasden
Beck emerges at Turnerford by Keasden Moor. This
insignificant-looking moor is a Site of Special Scientific
Interest, for being, according to its citation, “the only
known site for the marsh gentian Gentiana pneumonanthe
in the Yorkshire Dales” – which is quite something
considering that it is not even in the Yorkshire Dales.
The small pond in the middle of the moor is surrounded
by common marsh-bedstraw, sneezewort and lesser
skullcap (the names, at least, are fun).
By the moor are St Matthew’s Church and a
telephone box, which together constitute the hub of the
scattered village of Keasden. The church has a fine view
across to Ingleborough but, like most of Keasden, makes
little attempt to compete with the beauty of the Dales
hills. The peat brown Keasden Beck runs past various
farmsteads, some converted, some not. Clapham Wood
Hall is a rather sad cottage on the site of a much grander
hall that was demolished in the 19th century.
Until 1800 it was the home of the Faraday family,
from which came the eminent scientist Michael
Faraday (1791-1867), although Keasden cannot
claim him, as he was born in London after his
father had moved away from Keasden in 1780.
After a further 1km Keasden Beck joins the
Wenning by Hardacre Wood.
The threat to the Bowland Fells takes various forms:
draining, pollution, burning, over-grazing and the presence
of humans.
Land drainage for agricultural purposes is so
damaging to the ecology of bogs and heaths that very few
new hill drains have been allowed recently. Existing drains
remain a problem, as they lower the water table and lead to
shrinkage of the peat and increased fire risk.
As blanket bogs receive all their nutrients from the
atmosphere, they are very sensitive to air pollution. The
pollution provides too much nutrient and the increased
growth threatens more sensitive species.
Perhaps the most important factor is the practice of
rotational strip burning, which has been carried on for
centuries. First, it must been conceded that the practice
is necessary if the hills are to be conserved in something
like their present state, because if left to nature they would
revert to scrub and woodland. The controlled burning of
strips of heather every few years produces areas of heather
of different age and hence height and structure.
In recent years, the intention has been to provide
suitable habitats for grouse, although farmers may also
burn heather to produce young shoots for sheep to graze
and so spread the sheep more evenly over the fells. Either
way, there are benefits to many other species that depend
upon healthy moorland. Overall, the management of grouse
moors has helped retain the habitat but today the numbers
of grouse are in decline.
We must also acknowledge the threat to this sensitive
environment from increased human access, encouraged
by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act. We can now
wander where we will but the plants do not appreciate
walkers’ boots and neither do nesting birds. If horse-riders,
mountain-bikes, motorbikes and off-road vehicles were
allowed, would the fells survive?
Right: The work of the Keasden mole-catcher.
CHAPTER 11:
Wenningdale,
Hindburndale and
Roeburndale
170 Chapter 11: Wenningdale, Hindburndale and Roeburndale
Wennington
Ri
ve r L
une
•
Bentham
River Wenn
in g
Hornby
•
•
B6480
Great Stone
of Fourstones
*
Mewith •
Head
S
Wray •
20
dale Be
• Lowgill
• Keasden
k
en Bec
lk
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eburn
Cro
ss
a sd
Ke
bur
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walk 21
River Ro
River Hind
ck
▲ Burn Moor
S
Go
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Wh
i tr
eck
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R
Ro
eb
ay
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B
ive
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Dale
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Beck
▲
Mallowdale Pike
▲ Great Harlow
▲ White Hill
Wolfhole Crag ▲
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Wenning from Keasden Beck ... 171
The Wenning from Keasden Beck ...
T
he Wenning runs by the Forest of Mewith, below
the northern slopes of Burn Moor. Mewith is
an area of undulating farmland, with scattered
farmsteads, isolated woodlands, many paths and tracks,
and no discernible pattern. It is crossed by many becks
that flow off Burn Moor, where the county border runs
northwest past the Queen of Fairies Chair and the Great
Stone of Fourstones. The former is notable only for its
name but the latter is a remarkable 4m-high monolith,
from which there is a good view across to the Three
Peaks.
The Wenning flows calmly between banks
of alder, with birds such as common sandpiper,
dipper and grey wagtail, although sadly there are
few of the sea trout for which the river was once
known, partly because so many alien rainbow
trout have escaped from a trout farm. The river
reaches High Bentham and, shortly after, Low
Bentham, which is older but now smaller. High
Bentham expanded north, south and east and
Low Bentham expanded north, south, and west
but recently they have taken tentative steps along
the B6480 towards one another. I will consider
this dumbbell shape to be Bentham.
Its leaflet for tourists begins with the sentence
“Bentham is not a tourist centre”, which must
be welcome news for those staying at the large
caravan park. Bentham was once more positive,
for it had pioneered the idea of a holiday camp,
long before Butlin and Pontin. From 1908 to
1925 a tented village was set up on the banks of
the Wenning for holidaymakers: single men on
the north bank, everyone else on the south bank,
with a suspension bridge in between.
Bentham considers itself a market town
and shopping centre with an industrial heritage.
It appeared as Benetain in the Domesday Book
and was granted a market charter in 1306. High
Bentham Mill, using a millrace from the Wenning
near Bentham Bridge, was established in 1750,
possibly on the site of an old corn mill. It later
worked in tandem with Low Mill (built 1785), mainly
spinning flax. By 1795 the mills were importing Baltic
flax to make sailcloths. The owner in 1814, Hornby
Roughsedge, bought Bentham House, which no longer
exists, and the manorial rights to Ingleton.
It was Mr Roughsedge who had funded the ill-fated
hospice on Ingleborough (mentioned on page 130). His
benefaction was more gratefully received in Bentham,
where he paid for St Margaret’s Church (Margaret
coincidentally being Mrs Roughsedge’s name), built in
1837 on a hill that now overlooks the unstylish Bentham
Bridge, which replaced one washed away in 1964.
Right above: Mewith Head Hall.
Right below: Great Stone of Fourstones.
Two pages before: Upper Roeburndale.
The mills were bought in 1877 by Benson
Ford to manufacture silk. The Ford family
were Quakers and their enlightened views
on the treatment of employees enhanced
the significant Quaker influence upon the
region. Quakerism had been strong since
the 1650s, with the Calf Cop meetinghouse
being established in 1718. The Quakers have
generally had a disproportionate influence on
Loyne’s society and commerce, to which they
directed their energy and enterprise as their
religious views barred them from professional
and political careers.
The mills once employed up to 800
people and were the dominant factor in village
life until they closed in 1970. One derivative
company, Angus Fire (now called Kiddes),
based on an invention to weave tubes to make
fire hoses, still operates but now on a site
across the railway line, the original mill site
having been converted for small businesses
and residences.
Before the 19th century, Bentham was unusual
in having no wealthy gentry to build large mansions.
There are some rows of 17th century cottages and
Collingwood Terrace has an intriguing conception. In
1726 the will of William Collingwood of York provided
for “the maintenance and support of six old decayed
housekeepers in [Bentham], men and women, six of
each sex”. I don’t know why he was so grateful to the
housekeepers of Bentham. According to its plaque, we
owe the continued existence of the terrace to a Mrs
Titterington, who provided funds in 1900 to restore the
houses as bungalows.
To the west of Bentham, the Wenning is joined by
Eskew Beck, which begins life as County Beck near the
Great Stone of Fourstones. Eskew Beck is important for
its exposures of Carboniferous rocks with rare fossils.
The county border is along County Beck and Eskew
Beck and then continues west along the Wenning. The
greater importance of county borders in earlier times,
when, for example, fugitives could escape the law by
crossing them, is reflected in the history of Robert Hall,
just to the south. It was built in the 16th century for the
Cansfield family, who, as recusant Catholics, needed
hiding places and escape routes.
To the southwest of Robert Hall is a moor that has
miraculously escaped the notice of man until recently,
The Wenning between High and Low Bentham
for it has never been ploughed or drained. Consequently,
this is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for being
“the only extensive example of species-rich undrained
and unimproved base-flushed neutral grassland in
Lancashire”, including several rare plant communities.
To the non-specialist, it gives an idea of what would be
the natural state of this drumlin scenery.
In contrast, to the north at Clintsfield the signs of
human activity are evident, with the only significant
remains of the local coal mining industry. The old
engine house, which operated until about 1840 and was
later converted to a dwelling, and its adjoining square
chimney still stand, more or less, and traces of the ten or
more coal pits marked on old maps are still visible.
Above Clintsfield is The Blands, which was gutted
by fire in 2009. All the old farmsteads of Loyne, with the
intertwined families and colourful characters that lived
in them, have interesting histories but surely none can
match that of The Blands, once the home of Perpetual
Arthur.
Just to the west, four pipes cross above the railway
line. This is the continuation of the Haweswater
Aqueduct, which we saw crossing the Lune near Kirkby
Lonsdale. The pipes go under the Wenning and then up
and over the railway. The aqueduct is gravity-fed (that is,
there are no pumps) but it is clearly not downhill all the
way. It is a single 2m pipe along most of its length but
The Wenning from Keasden Beck ... 173
is split into four smaller cast-iron pipes to cross rivers
and valleys.
Shortly after, the Wenning reaches its eponymous
village, Wennington, a triangle of houses around a green
bisected by the B6480. Its appearance has been improved
by the restoration of the old Foster’s Arms Hotel, empty
for many years. Wennington Hall, now a school, lies to
the north. It was re-designed in a Tudor-Gothic style
by Edward Paley in 1855. A notice at the gate informs
us of its history, including the fact that a motto of the
Morley family (who owned the hall from 1330 to 1678)
is inscribed in the headmaster’s study: “S’ils te mordent,
mord les” – ‘if they bite you, bite them’, which I trust
hasn’t been adopted as the school motto.
At Wennington, the dismantled railway line to
Lancaster and the still-existing line to Carnforth separate,
with the Wenning continuing beside the former. It passes
under the large Tatham Bridge, which can be barely seen
from the road. It has five arches, including one for the
railway, which it therefore does not pre-date. The line
opened in 1849 and for the first six months ran from
Lancaster only as far as a temporary Tatham Station,
just beyond the bridge. The bridge provides access to the
neat St James the Less Church, on a site where a church
is thought to have existed since Saxon times.
East of Tatham Hall on a small hill by Tatham Park
Wood are various mounds
and ditches that look like the
remains of old settlements,
although they are not marked
as such on maps. According
to old maps, there were
many coal pits (Moorhead
Pits) to the east. The nearby
Netherwood Hall is much too
trim to retain its old name of
Bottom.
Below Hornby Park
Wood the River Hindburn
joins the Wenning.
Perpetual Arthur was the nickname of Arthur Burrow
(1759-1827), who owned The Blands from 1787. This
relatively uneducated but multi-talented man became a
local legend for his many activities: blacksmith by trade, he
mined coal surreptitiously under The Blands, an entrance
to the shaft being conveniently close by the fireside; he
knew the bible better than many theologians, after being
taught to read in one night by an angel (according to him);
he built mysterious niches in his sunken garden, possibly
to intrigue gullible antiquarians; he distilled liquor; he ran
plum fairs; and he fathered thirteen children.
But the activity by which he was best known was his
unceasing quest to develop a perpetual motion machine, an
endeavour that attracted the interest of eminent engineers of
the day. Arthur would talk eloquently, enthusiastically and
at great length on his ideas for perpetual motion (and on the
bible, for that matter) if given half a chance. This was, of
course, in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, when
self-taught engineers were rapidly developing new forms
of power from coal and water. He redirected the nearby
beck to run under his house, which may have helped to
sustain the illusion of perpetual motion.
The History of the Parish of Tunstall considers that
“he had a touch of genius which, had his education been
sufficiently good, might have ranked him among the
world’s great men.” No doubt, if he had actually invented
a perpetual motion machine then he wouldn’t be all but
forgotten today.
Right: The remains of the
engine house of Clintsfield
coal mine.
The River Hindburn 175
St James the Less Church, Tatham
The River Hindburn
B
y the time it reaches Botton Bridge the River
Hindburn is already a considerable size, having
gathered up all the becks that drain Greenbank Fell,
Botton Head Fell and Whitray Fell below the semicircular ridge that runs to the ancient Cross of Greet
(which is no longer a cross but a large boulder with a
socket in which a cross may once have stood). This is
a vast area of peat bogs and heather, turning to grass
tussocks lower down. It is all CRoW land but walking
here is more of a challenge than a pleasure. In winter,
there are only grouse for company. From the ridge there
are broad views of Pendle and the southern Bowland
Fells and to the north Whernside looks particularly noble
(Ingleborough always does). The alignment of the ridges
Left (top): Wennington Hall.
Left (bottom): The Wenning at Wennington.
– Ingleborough, Whernside, Gragareth, and Middleton
Fell – shows clearly that they all belong to Loyne.
There is a rough path from the Cross of Greet to the
highest point of the ridge, White Hill (544m), but it has
few visitors, most of whom are puzzled by the tower
that stands near the trig point. It’s about 4m high, with a
notch in the top. It is in fact the middle of three towers
in a line, the other two being 500m north and south. The
other two cannot be seen when standing at the middle
one but if you walk to them you will see the notch of the
middle one back on the horizon.
If you have followed the narrative carefully, you
may suspect an answer to the puzzle. I think they are
sighting pillars used for surveying the Haweswater
Aqueduct, which we last saw near Wennington. If we
extrapolate the line of the towers on an OS map then
we find “air vents” marked on the exact line 3kms in
both directions. The towers seem to mark the line of the
aqueduct below our feet as we stand on White Hill. It
is a surprising thought, in the bleak emptiness of White
Hill, but the aqueduct must cross the Bowland Fells
somewhere and it certainly doesn’t go over them.
Other than the towers, there is no trace of this
engineering feat on the ground but if we plod over to
Round Hill on Botton Head Fell we may visit a much
older engineering construction that is (just about) visible.
We have passed many Roman roads on our journey but
have always had to take the expert’s word for it. Here
we might be able to convince ourselves that the slightly
raised ridge that runs between Goodman Syke and Dale
Beck is the line of a Roman road. It is actually more
convincing to view from a distance, for example, from
the footpath between Botton Bridge and Botton Head.
This is the Roman road that we have tracked from Over
Burrow past Low Bentham and that is now heading for
Ribchester.
Just above Botton Mill there is a permissive path that
enables access to Summersgill Fell. Here, at the parish
boundary fence, the nearest visible road or building is
far distant: ideal for those allergic to humanity or fond
of nude fell-walking (or, especially, both). A walk here
Above: Looking towards the Three Peaks from White
Hill.
Below: The tower on White Hill.
in spring is not, however, in silence: agitated lapwings,
curlews and grouse will attempt to distract you from
their nests.
Once off the open fell we are among the lush green
pastures of the several farmsteads in the upper Hindburn
valley. Apart from the intrusive conifer plantation at
Higher Thrushgill, the map looks unchanged from a
century or two ago, and moreover most of the farmsteads
are still farmsteads, unlike most dales we have visited,
where many are derelict or converted into residences
and holiday cottages. There is an appealing timelessness
here, with the farms going about their business, nestled
below the rough fell and with open views across to
Ingleborough and the Lake District.
In contrast to nearby Keasdendale, the Hindburn
valley is crossed by many footpaths, which, to judge
from the curiosity of the sheep, are not often used. The
Hindburn passes below the quiet village of Lowgill,
a gathering of a score or so cottages on the line of the
Roman road. There’s also a primary school for about
Grey Stone on Goodber Common
(You’d think that since this is one of the few things
the OS map names in this featureless region we
could have come up with a more imaginative name.)
Feathermire in Tatham
River Hindburn near Mill Houses
forty pupils, some of whom must travel
far to get here and understandably so for
the school is known for the quality of
education provided. The only other public
building seems to be the Wesleyan Chapel
of 1866. To the north, above Mill Bridge,
is the older (but rebuilt in 1888) and more
impressive Church of the Good Shepherd,
a fitting name for this rural area.
To the south of Lowgill, at Ivah Great
Hill, a new woodland of native trees
was created in 2003 by the community
group Treesponsibility’s nifty scheme of
engaging local people in tree-planting, to
help slow global warming. We, or at least
those who planted trees, are welcome to
visit to see the trees growing.
Three kilometres below Lowgill,
the Hindburn passes under a bridge built
in 1840 and carved with the name of
Walk 20: Middle Hindburndale and Lowgill
Starting point: A large lay-by east of Ridges on the Wray to Low Bentham back road (633679).
Walks in the upper Hindburn do not compare with other high-level walks I’ve suggested: it is better to stroll through the
farmsteads of the middle Hindburn around Lowgill.
This walk uses four bridges over the Hindburn to make a route of three loops. There is some walking on roads but they are
generally quiet. Careful use of the OS map is needed, to locate about fifty stiles or gates.
Take the path that starts on the drive to Ridges and skirts around Riggs Farm next to it, continuing on the path south and
then southeast (diverted through a wood) to the Furnessford Road. Over Furnessford Bridge take the path past the barn and up a
fine old track through the wood to Birks Farm, dated 1667. The four large manholes seen here and by Riggs Farm mark the line
of the Haweswater Aqueduct. Follow the road southeast past Park House and take the track to Lower Houses. Turn left and after
0.5km drop down east by a wooded gully to a footbridge over the Hindburn.
Head south across an open field to the barn seen ahead. Then walk up through the wood behind it and across the fields,
heading for Lowgill School. Walk south through Lowgill to High Ivah (along the line of the Roman road), and drop down
southwest across the field to Stairend Bridge. Continue on the road past Botton Mill. After 1km turn left through Lower Thrushgill,
continuing east to walk across a field and down to a footbridge. Continue for 0.5km to join the bridleway through Swans (0.5km
north) and back to Stairend Bridge.
Walk 100m to the road corner again and this time take the path north, by the Hindburn. Follow this path for 2km past a few
derelict barns back to the wooded gully, and drop to the footbridge again. Over it, this time turn left through a wood and up to the
road near Mill Bridge, 1km east. Turn left and cross the bridge and, after an optional detour to the Church of the Good Shepherd,
continue on the road north for 2.5km to Spen Lodge. Beware of traffic as you contemplate the views of distant hills.
Beyond Spen Lodge take the footpath through Little Plantation if it is not too overgrown – otherwise continue on the road
and turn left onto Furnessford Road. Take the path west below Trimble Hall to rejoin the path from Ridges.
Short walk variation: Clearly, using only three, two or one of the bridges will shorten the walk. However, parking in the valley
is not easy although there is space on the corner near the track to Swans (655640). The best of the short walks is the loop south
from there through Lower Thrushgill and Swans, combined, if you have time, with a loop north to Over Houses Great Wood and
back through Lowgill.
Furnessford Bridge, although the 1847 OS map calls
it Furnaceford Bridge. Below the bridge there are no
footpaths by the Hindburn, which is a pity as it runs
prettily by steep cliffs over minor waterfalls. I hardly
need to say what Mill Houses used to be but I ought
to mention the nearby meadow on the footpath from
Clear Beck Bridge. This meadow is too small to have
been affected by modern agriculture and as a result is
a Site of Special Scientific Interest for being “one of
the best examples of species-rich meadow grassland in
Lancashire”. It is so rich, in fact, that over 130 species
have been recorded.
Clear Beck joins the Hindburn after Hindburn
Bridge, running from Clearbeck House, which has
a garden with follies, sculptures, a lake, and views of
Ingleborough. The house is one of about twenty studios
on the Lunesdale Studio Trail, in which local artists open
their studios each summer to enable visitors to see their
work in paintings, textiles, prints, sculptures, mosaics,
jewellery, ceramics, drawings and photography.
Below Wray Bridge, the River Hindburn and the
River Roeburn come together, as nature intends.
The River Roeburn
W
e were once accosted by a friendly couple in
Roeburndale who felt that they had discovered
the best place in England and often journeyed over
from Blackpool to savour it. They were pleased, not
disappointed, to find others who shared their secret. The
view from the brow of the road after passing Thornbush
is enchanting: to the alpine-like green pastures down by
the woods up to the conical peak of Mallowdale Pike
and beyond, with the Three Peaks arrayed on the left.
And Roeburndale encompasses both the ancient and the
new, as we’ll see.
The River Roeburn rises at the old YorkshireLancashire county border below Wolfhole Crag (527m)
and Salter Fell. This is open fell country, far from any
road and therefore likely to be deserted. It was not always
so, for Hornby Road (or the Old Salt Road) was once an
important route and in its southern part coincides with
the Roman road that came up Round Hill from Lowgill.
It is possible that the CRoW policy will give a
new lease of life to Hornby Road. The track, which is
Wolfhole Crag
The River Roeburn 181
unusable by cars, provides an excellent
walking surface, although distances are
long and any loop off-track involves
strenuous going. Walking north, the
view that opens up at Alderstone Bank
is remarkable, with a long-distance
180° horizon from Black Combe to
Ingleborough. The track marked on
OS maps as going to a shooting cabin
on Mallowdale Fell now continues
over the ridge to join the track from
Tarnbrook Fell. It may therefore be
used to reach the ridge path to Ward’s
Stone but there will be awkward bogs
around Brown Syke after wet weather.
If you walk up here you will
become aware of the screeching gulls
that nest on Mallowdale Fell and
Tarnbrook Fell. These are a relatively
new phenomenon, first being reported
in 1936. There are now over 25,000
pairs nesting annually, forming
England’s largest inland colony of
lesser black-backed gulls. Thousands
more are culled to avoid possible bacterial contamination
of the Lancaster water supply.
Hornby Road is a recommended route for mountain
bikers, who are (at the moment) not allowed on the
increasing numbers of tracks on the Bowland Fells
proper. It is also part of the 45km North Lancashire
Bridleway, opened in 2004. This runs from Denny Beck,
Halton via Roeburndale to Chipping. Let us hope that
the few residents in these remote areas benefit from,
rather than resent, these new activities.
On Mallowdale Pike there is a memorial cairn to one
Anthony Mason-Hornby (1931-1994). The cairn gives
no explanation for its presence here. The area was out
of bounds to the public until the CRoW Act took effect
in 2004. Very few walkers will take advantage of the
opportunity to venture here but even so it is a regrettably
growing practice for private grief to impose upon special
places, without good reason.
Left: Three Roeburndale panoramas: (top) Hornby
Road, with the head of Roeburndale to the right;
(middle) north from near Haylot Farm, with Whernside
to the right; (bottom) south from near Thornbush.
The Irish bridge below Middle Salter
At Mallowdale the Roeburn leaves the open fell
to run through woods past Lower Salter to be joined
by Bladder Stone Beck (what a charming name) and
Goodber Beck, which runs in a deep ravine from the
empty grasslands of Goodber Common. Even the most
desolate areas have their uses. The large heath butterfly,
one of only two English butterflies that are on the
European list of threatened species, breeds here. Hare’s
tail cotton grass, its main larval food plant, flourishes on
the Common.
The Roeburn runs through 5km of Roeburndale
Woods, one of the most extensive deciduous woodlands
The Top 10 body-parts in Loyne
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Bladder Stone Beck, Roeburndale
Bosom Wood, Cautley
Backside Beck, east Howgills
High Stephen’s Head, near Ward’s Stone
Fleshbeck, below Old Town
Rotten Bottom, Dentdale
Heartside Plantation, Middleton Fell
Hand Lake, north Howgills
Long Tongue, Cockerham Sands
Bone Hill, near Pilling
From left to right, Gragareth, Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent from above Middle Wood,
not forgetting the clouds
in Lancashire, which is perhaps not saying much as it one
of the least wooded counties of England. These woods
provided an enclave for the red squirrel (until recently:
I have heard no recent reports of red squirrels here). A
permissive path in Outhwaite Wood enables us to see as
we walk north the gradations of tree types, reflecting the
changes of soil, from lime, birch, hazel and alder to ash,
elm and oak.
In a clearing opposite Outhwaite Wood is the Middle
Wood environmental centre. This was established in
1984 to “advance, research and provide education for the
public benefit in those techniques of farming, forestry,
wildlife and countryside management, building, energy
utilisation and human lifestyle, which are in tune with
the natural cycle and which do not upset the long term
ecological balance.” Quite foresighted, then, and today a
range of ecological buildings for sustainable development
can be seen. The study centre uses solar panels and a
wood-burning stove for heat and is powered by wind
power. The community yurt (a Mongolian circular tent)
is the main meeting place. Whenever I pass through
only a few wisps of smoke at most seem to disturb the
The River Roeburn 183
air of away-from-it-all self-sufficiency. After years of
apparently anonymous inactivity, the centre is now so
vigorously advertising its facilities (courses, website,
shop, study centre, rural classroom, camping barn) that
it is in danger of becoming mainstream.
As the Roeburn nears the village of Wray it is joined
by Hunt’s Gill Beck, which runs past Smeer Hall. Here
the last coal pit in the region closed in 1896. On the
Roeburn’s right bank is a line of cottages associated
with the old Wray Mill. Like many mills we have
passed, it dates back centuries and went through many
incarnations (cotton, wool, bobbins, silk, and so on) in a
valiant attempt to survive, before finally succumbing in
the 20th century.
Just after the mill cottages, the Roeburn passes
under Kitten Bridge, the first of three bridges in Wray,
the others being Wray Bridge over the Roeburn and
Meal Bank Bridge over the Hindburn. The first and last
were washed away in the notorious flood of August 1967
and have since been replaced. Wray Bridge survived but
perhaps it would have been better if it hadn’t, because
the logs and debris piled up against the bridge, causing
the torrent to back up and demolish a number of cottages.
Luckily, there were no casualties but 37 people were
made homeless. The event is commemorated in a garden
close by Wray Bridge.
Some of the cottages washed away used to be the
homes of various Wray artisans, because from about
1700 to 1850 Wray was a veritable hive of industry.
Apart from the mill and local mining and quarrying,
Wray was known for the production of hats, nails, clogs
and baskets. It is unclear why Wray in particular became
an industrial centre but no doubt once it began to build
a reputation it was enhanced by other workers being
attracted to the area for employment. The industries
were relatively short-lived and Wray has since relaxed
into a quiet, commuting community.
A walk up the Main Street from Wray Bridge reveals
some of this history. First impressions suggest that Wray
is different from other Loyne villages. The grey, stone
buildings and converted farms and cottages are familiar
but they are set back from the road, with cobbled areas
in front. By Loyne standards, Wray is a new village, as
it is not listed in the Domesday Book. It was designed, if
Walk 21: Roeburndale
Starting point: Just north of the cattle grid north of Barkin Bridge (601638).
This walk gives a tour of middle Roeburndale, with views up to the wilderness of upper Roeburndale. It first makes use of
a new permissive path to and through Outhwaite Wood. This path is not marked on OS maps but there are clear signs to follow,
the first being by a stile a few metres northwest of the cattle grid. The footpath sign is a symbol of a deer: I hope that encouraging
us to look for them doesn’t scare them away.
The path crosses two fields and then drops down (rather muddily) to cross a new footbridge to the east bank. There are good
views at times of the Roeburn below. The path continues just outside the wood, which it eventually enters. It then joins a loop
walk within Outhwaite Wood. Take the lower path of the loop (it isn’t necessary to cross the swing bridge to the camping barn, but
it’s fun to do so (twice)). After 1km the path emerges below the wood and joins the public footpath that has crossed the footbridge
from Middle Wood. Continue north and then east up the path into fields.
Follow the footpath until it nearly reaches the road and then turn right, following the path for 3km above Outhwaite farm,
past Wray Wood Moor, and all the way to Harterbeck, where Goodber Beck forms an impressive waterfall. Cut southwest across
fields for 1km to reach High Salter, where Hornby Road ceases to be a road.
Drop down behind High Salter, cross Mallowdale Bridge, and after Mallowdale farm cross a footbridge to enter Melling
Wood. This path climbs up to give good views down into secluded Mallow Gill. At Haylot Farm take the paved road down to the
Irish bridge across the Roeburn. Pass Lower Salter, with its tiny Methodist church, and return to Barkin Bridge.
The map shows other footpaths that may be used to shorten (or lengthen) the walk but avoid the one shown crossing
Goodber Beck in Park House Wood: a safe crossing point is hard to find and anyway slippage has made the path unusable. A stile
linking Bowskill Wood and CRoW land (at 611646) enables many variations on our route.
Short walk variation: Any short walk is, of course, constrained by the need to find bridges to cross the various rivers and becks.
One possibility is to follow the long walk as far as the footbridge to Middle Wood and to then cross the bridge and walk via Back
Farm and the road back to Barkin Bridge. Another possibility is to complete the southern half of the long walk, that is, to walk
south from Barkin Bridge, east through Lower Salter to the waterfall at Harterbeck and then follow the long walk from there.
that is not too bold a term, by the then Lord of Hornby in
the 13th century for his farm workers. The farm buildings
were set out on the wide street, with a village green at
the north end.
All except one of the farms have been converted into
residences but the original forms can still be discerned.
Overall, if Main Street were without its multitude of
parked cars then it would have a picturesque quality of
bygone times. The green, however, no longer exists, as
the B6480 was built across it. With the original road,
now called The Gars, it has made an island of Wray
House and a few other houses.
Despite its youth, Wray seems proud of its age:
almost every house bears a datestone, usually of the 17th
century, even one built in the 20th century. One of the
first houses met on the walk up Main Street from Wray
Bridge is that of Richard Pooley, or Captain Richard
Pooley as he insisted on being called. He flourished in
the Civil War and returned to the family home in Wray
to bequeath £200 a year to establish a primary school
in 1684. A plaque on the school wall confirms this; a
second asserts that “Bryan Holme (1776-1856) founder
of the Law Society was at school here” (there should
be an “a” before “founder”, as he did not do so alone).
The school is, unusually, not a church school, possibly
because it pre-dates local churches: Holy Trinity Church
was built in 1840 and the Methodist Chapel in 1867.
Anyone interested in rural architecture will enjoy a
stroll along Main Street. But not on May Bank Holidays,
for then the village and the roads around are jammed
for the Wray Fair, featuring the celebrated Scarecrow
Festival. The festival is part of an ancient springtime
ritual, passed down through generations of Wray
residents, dating all the way back to … 1996. The idea
was copied from a village in the Pyrenees in an attempt
to promote the Wray Fair. It succeeded beyond anyone’s
hopes and now tens of thousands visit, mainly to see the
scarecrows. Rather ironically, if that is your intention
then it is better to avoid the fair itself, as the scarecrows
adorn the village in the days before the fair, to the
distraction of unsuspecting passing motorists. Those
industrious workers of the 18th century, striving to make
a bare living, would be bemused by the feverish activity
of today’s villagers, as they strive to out-scarecrow one
another.
Beyond Wray Bridge the Roeburn joins the
Hindburn, which continues uneventfully for 2km to join
the Wenning.
The Wenning from the Hindburn
T
he Wenning swings south below Hornby Castle, a
prominent landmark of the lower Lune valley. The
Earl of Montbegon was granted the Hornby estate after
the Norman Conquest and was no doubt based at Castle
Stede by the Lune at first. At some time the village was
relocated, with a castle being built on the present site in
the 13th century. By the early 16th century the manor was
in the hands of Sir Edward Stanley, or Lord Monteagle
as he became after bravery at Flodden. It was the 4th
Lord Monteagle who received the warning letter about
the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Actually, the letter advised
him to stay away from Parliament, which may suggest
that the plotters considered him to be a sympathetic
friend.
As a Royalist stronghold the castle was besieged
during the Civil War but for some reason was not
demolished after capture as it was supposed to be. In
time, however, all of the castle except the central tower
fell into ruin and has been replaced. Despite appearances,
the present structure is mainly of the second half of the
19th century, when it was remodelled in the Gothic style,
complete with battlements. The castle can be viewed
from Tatham or from the Lune valley with Ingleborough
behind or, at closer quarters, from Hornby Bridge, with
the lawns sweeping down from the castle.
The castle’s structures are echoed in the octagonal
tower of St Margaret’s Church, built by the 1st Lord
Monteagle. It is probably on the site of an older church,
as it houses several ancient stones and crosses, one,
the ‘loaves and fishes’ cross, probably being preNorman. Opposite St Margaret’s is the Catholic Church
of St Mary, built in 1820, with the presbytery nearby,
where the noted historian John Lingard lived. By the
presbytery is indubitably the oldest bus stop in England,
with a datestone of 1629.
The two Grade I listed buildings (the castle and St
Margaret’s) set standards that the rest of Hornby does
well to live up to, which it does via a further 26 Grade
II listed structures. The main street has a number of fine
sandstone buildings and the institute has recently been
refurbished at a cost of £1.3m. Unfortunately, the Castle
Hotel, an old coaching inn, is letting the side down by
remaining boarded up and looking increasingly derelict.
Right: Hornby Castle and the Wenning.
The quiet residential tone reflects the fact that
Hornby, despite the market charter granted in 1292,
never developed any significant industrial activity,
unlike nearby Wray. In fact, its market town status had
lapsed by the 19th century.
The Wennington-Lancaster railway line ran to the
south of Hornby, enabling a short-lived livestock market.
Nearby is an interesting building built in 1872 by the
Lunesdale Poor Law Union as a workhouse for the poor
of 22 parishes. As with many other buildings, it has been
redeveloped for residential use.
I once sat for some time by the Wenning Bridge
in Hornby watching a heron attempting to swallow an
eel longer than itself - longer than its neck, at least.
It managed, somehow. There is concern about the
declining number of eels in the Lune, as in most British
rivers. I don’t think the heron is to blame. As with the
salmon, causes may be man-made (the various barriers
we have built to the eels’ migration up the rivers) and
natural (infections with parasites). DEFRA’s 2008
Eel Management Plan for the North West River Basin
District is on the case.
As the Wenning approaches the Lune it runs in a
much straighter line than in earlier times, with old river
channels visible on the south bank. Looking back from
the Lune, the Wenning points directly to its source on the
eastern flanks of Ingleborough.
John Lingard (1771-1851) is a rarity in Loyne – someone
who achieved eminence through activities within the
region. The plaque at the presbytery reads “Home of Dr
John Lingard, Catholic priest and historian, 1811-1851”,
which needs careful interpretation. The dates are those for
which the presbytery was Dr Lingard’s home, not those of
Dr Lingard himself. The Catholic Encyclopedia says that
he “retired to Hornby” in 1811 and refers to the “fruits of
his leisure there”. It is a little unclear, therefore, how active
he was as a Catholic priest in Hornby.
The ambiguity in “Catholic priest and historian”
is probably deliberate, for a key question is whether Dr
Lingard was a Catholic historian or a historian. He wrote
his eight-volume The History of England whilst living in
Hornby, the last volume appearing in 1830. The history was
later re-published in ten and then thirteen volumes. This
monumental work is important because, firstly, it provided
a comprehensive account of English history that has been
respected ever since it was first published and, secondly,
his methodology of not relying upon general opinion but of
going back to primary sources helped to change the nature
of historical research.
Inevitably, that general opinion did not always agree
with Lingard’s interpretations but he was always able
to refer back to his sources. Nowadays, we would not
expect the dispassionate objectivity that Lingard sought.
It is hardly surprising that his most controversial sections
concerned the Reformation, for he was, after all, a Catholic.
Nor that he was virtually ignored by academia but revered
by Catholics, so much so that it is thought that he was made
cardinal in petto (that is, in secret, to be announced later)
by Pope Leo XII.
Hornby Castle and Ingleborough
CHAPTER 12:
The Lune Floodplain
and the
Top of Bowland
188 Chapter 12: The Lune Floodplain and the Top of Bowland
Sna
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Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Lune from the Wenning ... 189
The Wenning joins the Lune
T
The Lune from the Wenning ...
he augmented Lune flows in the middle of
its floodplain and there is naturally a sense of
remoteness, with wide views back to Hornby and
across to Claughton Moor. Birds of the river congregate
here and noisily object to being disturbed. In early spring
hundreds of curlew gather on the flat fields on their way
upriver to their breeding grounds.
There are footpaths on both banks of the river,
although walkers are rare in the middle section. On the
east bank, a permissive path from Hornby eventually
joins the public footpath below Claughton and on the
west bank the Lune Valley Ramble continues. The
Ramble cuts across from the Lune to The Snab, leaving
a long sweep of the Lune to the birdlife. The ponds that
have formed here are well used by swan, coot, moorhen
and heron. Above The Snab, on the footpath to Eskrigge,
there are good views across to Hornby, with Ingleborough
behind, and it’s also possible to see the flat green centre
of the ancient moat near Camp House.
Snab Beck makes its way to the Lune, running from
Higher Snab through a deep, wooded gully. The beck
used to be a fast-flowing tributary of the Lune until its
banks were silted up from the trampling of cattle and
sheep. The Lune Rivers Trust has tried to restore the beck
to its former state in the hope of attracting back wildlife
that has been lost, such as otter and water vole. Otters
are regularly recorded within Loyne but not so regularly
that the event is not thought worth recording. It has been
seen between Arkholme and Caton quite often and also
upriver at Tebay and Sedbergh and on the Wenning and
Roeburn tributaries. Water voles are thought to have
declined by over 90% since 1960 because of loss of
habitat and predation by the American mink that has
escaped from fur farms. The water vole was given full
legal protection in 2008.
Snab Beck now runs below the footpath and then
out to a large isolated pond, before following a route
west back to the Lune, which is soon joined on the
opposite bank by the combined forces of Farleton Beck
and Claughton Beck.
Two pages before: The Lune at Lawson’s Wood.
Farleton Beck and Claughton Beck
F
arleton Beck and Claughton Beck are usually small
and sluggish but it is not always so. In 1967, on
the day of the Wray flood, similar but not so extensive
damage was caused in the villages of Farleton and
Claughton, through which the becks flow. The level
of the flood is marked on the wall inside the Fenwick
Arms.
Farleton is a cul-de-sac of mainly new houses lined
up around the old farms of Bank House and Brades.
Farleton’s only claim to fame is that in 1920 the owner
of the garage that used to exist next to the Old Toll
House was the first to paint white lines on a road, in
order to help motorists negotiate the dangerous corner.
This fact is so often repeated that it has become a selfevident truth. However, it is my sad duty to report that
many websites assert that Edward Hines, traffic engineer
of Detroit, used white lines in 1912. Ah well, it wasn’t
such a glorious claim to fame, anyway.
Claughton Beck arises on Claughton Moor and runs
through the clay pit of Claughton brickworks, now owned
by Hanson Brick Ltd. This industry has survived, against
the odds, since the late 19th century. One of the aerial
ropeways installed in about 1900 is still used to bring
down the clay and shale from the moor and is thought to
be the last such ropeway still in use in England. The view
into the pit, with the buckets swinging overhead, is a
glimpse of a bygone industrial age. The pit, incidentally,
is not as large as might be imagined for a century’s
The clay pit of Claughton brickworks
worth of bricks but for those concerned that the whole
of Claughton Moor might eventually be carried away in
these buckets it is reassuring that planning permission
for mineral extraction ends in 2018. The pit is due to be
returned to a natural state by 2020. Actually, quarrying to
the south and west of the pit has already ended, as rock,
The Claughton ropeway
Farleton Beck and Claughton Beck 191
rather than shale, has been reached but enough shale to
last about forty years lies to the east of the present pit. No
doubt, an application to extend the present permission
will be made in due course.
Halfway down the hill, Claughton Beck runs
behind Claughton Hall, which has a magnificent view
of Ingleborough and the Howgills. The hall, parts of
which are said to be of the 13th century, looks grim and
austere, with its front always in the shade. It is hard to
get a close view of the hall because it is surrounded by
fences, plantations and the bank of a large, new pond.
There are two unequally large, stern towers, with oddly
placed small windows and uneven roofs, and tall, narrow
chimneys. It is difficult to believe that in the 1930s this
hall was moved stone-by-stone from its position in
Claughton and rebuilt to the original plan here, without
the opportunity for more substantial change being taken.
Perhaps the labourers reflected upon this while, as they
hauled the stones up, the clay for new bricks was passing
down over their heads.
Claughton Hall is owned by the Oyston family,
which may explain its increasing reclusion. Owen
Oyston, a media tycoon, was jailed for six years in 1996
after being controversially convicted of rape. After a
groundbreaking legal battle to establish that it wasn’t
necessary to admit guilt first, he was released on parole in
1999. But his trademark sheepskin coat and large fedora
have gone, and no longer do the bison roam extrovertly
in the field in front of the hall as they used to.
Claughton Hall Farm, an old building of character,
was left where it was, next to St Chad’s Church, a
medieval church re-built in 1815. One of the two bells is
dated 1296, making it the oldest dated bell in England.
As with Farleton’s claim to fame, I am afraid that I have
to pour some cold water. In 2002 St Chad’s was declared
redundant and permission granted for it to be converted to
residential use. In 2005 there was a planning application
to remove the bells so that they may be displayed in
St Margaret’s Church, Hornby, although in 2009 they
seemed to be still with St Chad’s.
Sunset over a Lune-side lagoon
Bluebells in Burton Wood
The Lune from Farleton Beck and
Claughton Beck ...
T
he Lune Valley Ramble passes Afton Barn
Cottage, which is a kind attempt to help us with
the pronunciation of the village above it, Aughton. I’m
tempted to suggest an extra f is needed but it depends
on how you say “good afternoon”. Although most of
Aughton’s buildings have been adapted for Lancaster
commuters, one or two barns managed to survive until
the present ban on conversion came into force. The
houses are arranged around a triangle, mainly on the two
quiet sides (not that the third side is busy).
The village stirs itself every 21 years for the
Aughton Pudding Festival, at which the ‘world’s largest
pudding’ is prepared. In the 18th century, Aughton, like
other Lune villages, made baskets from osiers, which
were made more supple by boiling. In 1782 someone
had the bright idea to use the osier-boiler to make a large
pudding, which became a tradition, which then lapsed
and was revived in 1971. On the last occasion a concrete
mixer was used. Why 21 years? I suppose it takes that
long to forget what a jolly silly idea it is. (It is said to be
because they used to cut the willow beds down every 21
years but does that require a large pudding?) Note it in
your diary: the next great pudding is due in 2013.
Above Aughton, at appropriately named Whinney
Hill, is the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre, opened
by Princess Anne in 2007. This transferred here from
Nateby, near Preston, and is said to be Europe’s first
charity dedicated to the welfare of ex-racehorses.
Aughton Woods line the steep northern slopes
above the floodplain. These woodlands have probably
never been cleared and include many species, such
as birch, oak, elm, ash and, notably, the small-leaved
lime. The woods, however, are not entirely natural, as
The Lune from Farleton Beck and Claughton Beck ... 193
there are remains of about thirty charcoal hearths and
a much sycamore, an alien tree, has had to be removed.
The Wildlife Trust manages parts of the area, some of
which are County Biological Heritage Sites. There are
permissive footpaths in Burton Wood and Lawson’s
Wood, allowing extensive banks of bluebells to be
viewed in spring.
Opposite Burton Wood the Lune turns on a huge
meander. The lines of the parish boundaries and the
public footpaths show that the course of the Lune has
changed here. For some years the owner of the land on
the south bank, eroded by the Lune, insisted that walkers
must follow the official line of the footpath, that is, into
the middle of the Lune. Happily, a permissive path on
the bank was eventually agreed.
At the furthest point of the meander the Lune runs
by the dismantled Wennington-Lancaster railway line,
which at this point forms the beginning (or end) of the
River Lune Millennium Park, a leisure area leading to
Salt Ayre in Lancaster. Here also Bull Beck joins the
Lune.
Bull Beck
B
ull Beck rises as Tarn Brook – a name whose
significance you may ponder for a minute – in the
shadow of the Caton wind turbines and near the spoil
heaps of the disused Claughton Quarries. The new picnic
site at the top of Quarry Road provides a fine view over
the Lune valley to the Lakeland hills, accompanied by
the hum, or more often the squeal, of the wind turbines.
Tarn Brook runs through a narrow wooded valley in
a region of old farmsteads such as Annas Ghyll and
Moorside Farm. The substantial Moorgarth was built in
the 1820s as a workhouse for 150 paupers from parishes
within about 15km. It was closed after an inspection in
1866 found it “wholly unsuitable” for the care of the
poor and later, in 1902, it was converted into a residence
for the architect Harry Paley, son of the Paley of Paley
& Austin.
Tarn Brook becomes Bull Beck in honour of the
Black Bull, the 16th century (or older) public house in
the village of Brookhouse, a name that underlines the
The wind turbines on Caton Moor
The Caton wind turbines were the first modern windmills
to be constructed in Loyne – and the second. Elsewhere
in the Lune valley, wind turbine proposals have led to
heated debates and campaigning in STILE, that is, in
‘Stop Turbines In the Lunesdale Environment’, seemingly
oblivious of the fact that they are already here. Perhaps the
second set of wind turbines, twice as high as the first, are
more difficult to not notice.
Ten wind turbines were erected in 1994, even
though the site is within the Forest of Bowland Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its closeness to the pit being
gouged out by Claughton brickworks made it hard to argue
that the area was so outstanding that it must not be spoiled.
These turbines had a maximum capacity of 3MW, enough
to power about 1700 households.
In 2006 they were replaced by eight turbines, yielding
16MW. Actually, with these turbines occupying four times
the area, the yield per ‘cubic metre of wind’ is less. The
turbines are now visible from all directions (including from
much of Loyne and indeed from areas of the Lakes and
Dales) and not just from the north and west. A proposal
in 2009 for a further twenty turbines across the moor was
entirely predictable (indeed, was predicted in the first
edition of this book). These turbines were proposed for the
area above the Claughton brickworks. However, showing
a newly-discovered appreciation of the virtues of (the
remainder of) Caton Moor, the proposal was rejected in
2010 by Lancaster City Council.
The aesthetic appeal of wind turbines is much debated
but generally with the long-distance view in mind. What
about the aesthetics on the spot? A position on Caton Moor
above Moorcock Hall gives the finest view there is of
the middle stretches of the Lune, with the Lakeland hills
behind. It also provides the longest possible view of the
Lune valley, from the Lune Gorge to the estuary – but now
the latter must be viewed through the blades of the wind
turbines.
significance of Tarn Brook. Yes, it is the first ‘brook’,
rather than ‘beck’, that we have met, a transition in
nomenclature that is complete about 20km further
south. This is not just a terminological curiosity but
also an indication of the scope of Viking influence,
consistent with the disappearance of ‘fell’, ‘force’
(waterfall), ‘garth’ (yard), ‘gill’ (ravine), ‘keld’ (spring),
and ‘thwaite’ (meadow) across the Forest of Bowland.
Indeed, the name of Bowland is probably derived from
the Norse ‘bu’ for cattle rather than from the bow and
arrow.
Modern housing for Lancaster commuters has now
engulfed the old core of Brookhouse. There are three
halls within tottering distance of the Black Bull: the
Hall, the Old Hall, and Old Hall Farm. The Old Hall
was probably the ancient manor for the Caton estate,
although the present building is of the 17th century. The
church of St Paul’s, where there has been a church since
at least the 12th century, has helpfully retained something
of its past in both major re-buildings. The 1537 rebuilding retained the 12th century arched doorway in the
west wall, although it has been incongruously filled with
a jumble of oddments, some of antiquity. In 1865 the
church was again re-built (by the ubiquitous Paley) but
this time retaining the 1537 tower.
Bull Beck continues past the A683 picnic site, which
is a meeting point for bikers, to join the Lune.
The Lune flowing towards Ingleborough
The Lune from Bull Beck ... 195
The Lune from Bull Beck ...
T
he steep banks of the Lune are pitted with holes.
These are nests excavated by sand martins, which
arrive back in England in April and can be seen in large
numbers swirling and swooping over the river seeking
flies before returning to their nest.
Below Bull Beck is the lowest ford of the Lune still
in regular use. It is a little disconcerting to see tractors
setting off into a river that seems too deep but they head
boldly diagonally across to reach the farmer’s land
within the great meander.
The Lune continues its long curve to face whence
it came and then turns sharply under Lawson’s Wood to
head towards a bridge painted grey, with red roses. On
the side it says “Manchester Corporation Water Works
1892”. Within the bridge is an aqueduct carrying up to
250 million litres of water every day from Thirlmere to
Manchester. The Victorian style contrasts with the 1950s
austerity of the Haweswater Aqueduct passed near
Kirkby Lonsdale. The two aqueducts are now part of a
more complex system, collecting water from Ullswater
and Windermere as well, being joined near Shap, and
providing water to Liverpool, Blackpool and Lancaster
as well as Manchester.
The Thirlmere Aqueduct is 150km long, the longest
in England to work by gravity alone. As can be seen, the
four pipes across the bridge drop several metres to be
taken underground on the south side of the Lune. This is
the sharpest drop along the whole length of the aqueduct
(the average drop is just 30cm/km, and the water flows
at 6km/hour) and hence the point under the greatest
hydrodynamic pressure. The square buildings, south and
on the hill north, have valves that can be closed to enable
repairs. A £23m programme to inspect and repair the
entire length of the aqueduct was begun in 2006, which
is the first time that the aqueduct has been completely
drained since it opened in 1894.
A few years ago, the platform across the aqueduct
was opened to walkers, which was much appreciated,
as also was the new bridge obviating the difficult ford
across Artle Beck, 0.5km below the aqueduct.
The Thirlmere Aqueduct (or Waterworks Bridge)
the surface is stony. After dry weather, it is dusty and the
gritstone sparkles in the sunlight but usually the sombre
colours intensify the wild, windswept remoteness.
The upland moors provide a breeding habitat for
birds such as curlew, snipe, redshank, ring ouzel, merlin,
golden plover, peregrine falcon, and hen harrier. The
last is the symbol of Bowland. The hen harrier is one
of England’s most threatened birds and Bowland is
its most important breeding site in England. In 2005
fifteen pairs nested in Bowland, more than in the rest
of England. Unsurprisingly, the Bowland Fells are a
Special Protection Area under the European Union’s
Wild Birds Directive.
The Littledale region is also a good one for observing
the lapwing, a bird that is distinctive in all three main
identifying characteristics: appearance (with a long
crest), flight (an acrobatic tumble) and call (a ‘pee-wit’).
An alien black swan joins the Lune avifauna
The lapwing is declining drastically in other parts of the
country but in higher areas of Loyne where the sheep
numbers are not too high, such as Littledale, there has
Artle Beck
been an increase.
The Black Side of Ward’s Stone is rough country
rtle Beck acquires its name somewhere between
that until recently was reserved for grouse and grouse
Crossgill and Potts Wood, by which point it has
shooting. The British record bag of 2929 grouse was made
already absorbed innumerable becks flowing into the
in Littledale and Abbeystead on August 12th 1915. The
Littledale valley. From the north, Crossgill Beck runs
fine body of gentlemen (including four military officers
from the Caton wind turbines towards Roeburn Glade,
not distracted by the war on at the time) responsible for
built on the site of the old Brookhouse Brick Company,
this superlative achievement deserve naming: Major the
which closed down in the 1960s. Crossgill is probably
Hon. E. Beaumont, Capt. the Hon. H. Bridgeman, Major
named after the ancient cross, marked on old maps, that
the Hon. J. Dawnay, Capt. the Hon. T. Fitzherbert, Mr.
used to stand in the base that can be seen by a track (the
E. de C. Oakley, the Earl of Sefton, the
old Littledale Road) to the north. It is
Hon. H. Stonor, and the Hon. J. Ward.
an old farming hamlet: one building
Today, it is CRoW land, open
bears a date of 1681. In 1780 a corn
to us all (except when the grousemill was listed here – by 1850 it was
shooters decide to take priority, as they
a bobbin mill, and it closed in 1945 as
are allowed to do on 28 days a year).
a sawmill.
There’s an access point from Littledale
From the south, Foxdale Beck and
by Sweet Beck above Belhill Farm and
Udale Beck drain Blanch Fell and Black
also a permissive path (not marked on
Fell below Ward’s Stone (561m), the
OS maps) from near Deep Clough by
highest point in the Forest of Bowland.
Ragill Beck to Haylot Fell. Foxdale
Ward’s Stone naturally affords a fine
Beck below White Spout and Cocklett
view of the extensive plateaux of
Scar is an attractive secluded spot. The
southern Bowland, although the flat
best walking is to be found on the ridge
top prevents views into the valleys. On
that goes up to Gallows Hill, for this is
the top, erosion has exposed gritstone
mainly grass, in contrast to the heather,
boulders, some with fanciful names,
bogs and rocks found below Ward’s
such as the Queen’s Chair. A few raised
A CRoW welcome sign
Stone.
islands of peat remain but generally
A
Artle Beck 197
The trig point and Ward’s Stone
Foxdale Beck passes Littledale Hall, which is not as
old as it looks. It was built in the Gothic Revival period
for the Reverend John Dodson, who had been Vicar of
Cockerham from 1835 to 1849. It became a Christian
retreat in 1988 and a rehabilitation centre in 2006. Near
the Hall is Littledale Chapel, also built by the Rev.
Dodson but now used as a barn.
It is sometimes worthwhile to pause and ask: Why?
Why did the Rev. Dodson leave his flock at Cockerham
to build a hall and chapel in Littledale? It was because of
the Gorham Judgement, a significant event in the history
of tension between church and state. A Mr Gorham had
been rejected as a vicar by the church because he did not
believe in its teachings on baptism but, after an appeal to
the Privy Council, the church had been overruled. Many
clergy strongly objected to a secular court overriding
spiritual authority, including our Rev. Dodson, who
set out to build a ‘free church’, as it says above the
doorway.
From Fostal Bridge Artle Beck runs through a deep
valley shaded by woodland, which is important for its
over 160 species of moss and liverwort, and past the
sites of coal mines at Hollinhead and Hawkshead that
were active until the early 19th century. On the opposite
bank is Stauvins Farm, which was the home of Harry
Huddleston (1910-2005). He was the first Englishman
to represent his country abroad at sheepdog trialling.
Sheepdog triallers do not rank high on the nation’s
sporting pantheon but for a section of the Loyne
Windblown trees in Close Hill Plantation below
Ward’s Stone
community the magnificent name of Harry Huddleston
was one to be revered. He competed into his eighties
and when no longer able to walk operated from his car,
which he positioned next to the pen gate to help guide
the sheep. Nobody objected.
The beck emerges at Gresgarth Hall, the country
home of the internationally renowned garden designer
Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd (oh, and Sir Mark LennoxBoyd, former MP for Morecambe). As we would expect,
the gardens of Gresgarth Hall are impressive indeed,
having been transformed since 1978 from a gloomy,
dank, tree-shaded area, engulfed by rhododendron and
laurel, into a light, open parkland with terraced gardens,
herbaceous borders, a new lake, a water garden, an
orchard, a nuttery, and so on, with Artle Beck running
through them.
The gardens are open several times each summer,
usually in aid of the Conservative party, but don’t let that
put you off. Apart from the gardens, you will be able to
view the hall itself, which was largely rebuilt in the early
19th century. Perhaps you will be able to detect the rough
external masonry of the little that remains of the older
14th century hall.
The Gresgarth estate came into the ownership of
the historic Curwen family in 1330 when John Curwen
married Agnes de Caton. The Curwens owned extensive
land in Cumberland and Galloway when the EnglandScotland border was more fluid. It is believed that after
the First War of Scottish Independence, which ended in
1328, John Curwen was granted the Gresgarth estate
(and dear Agnes, heiresses at that time being wards
of the crown) in compensation for losing his land in
Galloway.
John Curwen would have been well aware of the
threat from the Scottish, since Robert the Bruce had
ransacked Lancaster in 1322, and turned whatever
building then existed (thought to have been a rest home
for monks) into a tower house. The Curwens owned
the hall until the 17th century, since when it has passed
through many hands, including the Girlingtons, whom
we met as owners of Thurland Castle.
Below Gresgarth, Artle Beck is more sedate. In
the beck, opposite Bridge End, a Roman milestone was
found in 1803. It is usually said to be six foot high but it is
actually rather bigger, as can be checked in the Lancaster
City Museum. Its carvings indicate that it marked a point
Littledale, looking up Udale Beck to Blanch Fell, with Ward’s Stone on the horizon
Artle Beck 199
Autumn mists over Artle Beck
four Roman miles from Lancaster, which is indeed the
straight-line distance to the Lancaster fort. It is therefore
an important indication of the path, now lost but probably
straight along this section, of the presumed road between
the forts at Lancaster and Over Burrow.
Artle Beck runs past Caton, which the aforementioned Thos Johnson considered “about the least
interesting of all the villages in the vale of the Lune.”
Although Caton is a workaday place this characterisation
is unfair because it doesn’t distinguish between the parish
and the village. Caton is old enough to be mentioned
in the Domesday Book but until relatively recently
Caton referred to four distinct communities: Littledale,
Caton Green, Brookhouse and Town End. The seat of
the manor, the original Caton Hall, was at Caton Green
and the parish church was at Brookhouse, which was, if
anywhere was, the centre of old Caton. Incidentally, the
present Caton Hall was the last home of the renowned
landscape architect, Thomas Mawson, who designed
The Top 10 halls in Loyne
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Gresgarth Hall
Underley Hall
Whittington Hall
Middleton Hall
Leck Hall
Burrow Hall
Ingmire Hall
Killington Hall
Ashton Hall
Thurnham Hall
many of Lakeland’s grand gardens and died here in
1933.
It was only from the late 18th century that Town End
grew rapidly to become the industrial centre of Caton,
after the building of five mills. Ball Lane Mill was burnt
down in 1846; Rumble Row Mill and Forge Mill closed
down in the 1930s; Willow Mill and Low Mill continued
until the 1970s. The last three survive after conversion to
small business units and residences. Low Mill is reputed
to have been the oldest cotton mill in England, built in
1783 on the site of a corn mill that may have dated back
to the 13th century. A millrace taken from Artle Beck at
Gresgarth powered all the mills except Ball Lane. Its
route across Artle Beck near Forge Mill and through
Caton to Low Mill can still be traced. The millpond by
Low Mill is now a fishery. As with all becks off the hills,
the water supply was unreliable and Low Mill became
one of the first to use steam power in 1819.
All this activity led the centre of gravity of Caton
to move to Town End. This was confirmed by the
building of the turnpike road, the present A683, in 1812,
bypassing the old road through Brookhouse and Caton
Green, and by the arrival in 1850 of the railway, with
Caton Station.
This history explains the relative dearth of old
buildings in Caton. The oldest church is the Wesleyan
Methodist one of 1837. Many of the house names reflect
Caton’s practical past: the Rock m Jock cottages are
said to refer to the noise from the nearby Willow Mill;
Farrer House (which is an old building, dated 1680) is
the old blacksmith’s; the Ship Inn is supposed to refer
to the sailcloths produced at Willow Mill. Even the Fish
Stones are concerned with trade – the three semi-circular
slabs are where fish were sold in the Middle Ages. By the
Fish Stones is a very old oak tree, so decrepit that fears
that it is disobeying its preservation order prompted the
High Sheriff of Lancashire to plant a successor oak tree
in 2007.
The Fish Stones and ye olde oake treee in Caton
CHAPTER 13:
The Lune to
Lancaster
202 Chapter 13: The Lune to Lancaster
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
0
•
5 kilometres
Hornby
M6
River
lk
wa
Ri
v
S
*
Crook o’Lune
22
k
Artle Bec
er
e
L un
Halton
•
g
Wennin
We scarcely need a full page
for this chapter’s map, so,
as a bonus, here are some
artworks from the Lune
Millennium Park:
Skerton •
*
Maritime
Lancaster
Museum *
Lancaster
Castle
•
Gray’s Seat bench
(Jim Partridge)
Maybe
(Colin Wilbourn)
Heron’s Head
(Marjan Wouda)
Captured Africans*
(Kevin Dalton
Johnson)
When Traffic
Cones Take Root
(Mark Renn and
Mick Thacker)
River Rocks
(Colin Reid)
*Strictly, this is not in the Millennium Park: it is a nearby
memorial to Lancaster’s slave trade, unveiled in 2005
The Lune from Artle Beck ... 203
A
The Lune from Artle Beck ...
fter 1km the Lune reaches the Crook o’Lune, a
popular picnic spot where the Lune meanders in
a graceful curve under wooded banks. There are
three bridges. The first and third, on opposite sides of
the meander, were for the Wennington-Lancaster railway
line. The second is Penny Bridge, which was built in
1883 after the 1806 bridge collapsed. This was a toll
bridge but rather than pay the toll some people preferred
to cross the Lune on foot, not always successfully.
In the summer the river banks and surrounding
fields provide a colourful display that would be regarded
as beautiful in other contexts. Here it should be viewed
with alarm, for the purple flowers are of Himalayan
balsam, an alien, fast-growing, invasive species that
swamps native plants, so that when it dies down in the
autumn it leaves the banks vulnerable to erosion. Its
nectar-rich flowers also attract bees away from native
species. It can be eradicated relatively easily but attempts
to do so must begin in the upper reaches of the Lune
and Rawthey where the balsam has become established,
because its explosive pods spread the seeds, which are
carried downstream in floods.
At the Crook o’Lune a small beck, Escow Beck,
slips into the Lune. This, with its tributary Deys Beck,
originates 2km south in Flodden Hill Wood. This name is
thought to be due to Richard Baines, who was given land
in the area by Lord Monteagle of Hornby in reward for
his bravery at the Battle of Flodden Field. He no doubt
gave his own name to Baines Cragg, which provides
a fine viewpoint over Lancaster and Morecambe Bay.
Escow Beck flows through the pond at Escowbeck
House, which John Greg, the then owner of Low Mill,
built in 1842. He had the grounds landscaped so that a
sight of what he owned did not spoil his view, and as a
result it is difficult for us now to see the house.
Above the Crook o’Lune is Gray’s Seat, a recently
restored viewpoint that was eulogised by the poet
Thomas Gray in 1769. He wrote that “every feature which
constitutes a perfect landscape of the extensive sort is
here not only boldly marked but in its best position”.
These words are carved at the viewpoint, beside a grand
seat made by the renowned woodcarver Jim Partridge.
Gray’s view seems intended to rival Ruskin’s View
at Kirkby Lonsdale, which, after all, it does pre-date.
It was well known in the 19th century, as the effusive
paraphrase of Gray’s words in A Pictorial History of the
Two pages before: The Lune Aqueduct.
Below: Penny Bridge, Crook o’Lune.
County of Lancashire (1854) indicates: the view “leaves
nothing to be desired in a landscape that pleases rather
than surprises, and of which the prevailing character is
more beauty than grandeur … we see nothing misplaced,
and desire neither to add to nor take away [a] solitary
object.” Since then we have added eight wind turbines.
Today, trees largely obscure the view and it is surprising
that we are encouraged to dash across the dangerous
A683 to see what’s left of it. (Gray’s Seat is probably
not Gray’s view at all: he stood to the north of the road,
400m below the “more advantageous station”, according
to the 1821 editor of Gray’s Guide to the Lakes.)
As we sit with our cuppa at the Crook o’Lune picnic
tables, admiring the view (shown on page
8) up the Lune valley to Ingleborough,
contemplating the words of Thomas
Gray, mulling over the wind turbines on
Caton Moor, and fretting over the banks
of Himalayan balsam, we may lapse into
a reverie on the nature of naturalness. In
2006 various agencies coalesced to form
Natural England, which on first hearing
seems a rather strange name for a public
organisation. Its brief is “to conserve
and enhance the natural environment”.
So, naturally, we are led to ask: “What is
natural?” and in particular “What of Loyne
is natural?”
The name of Himalayan balsam tells
us that it doesn’t belong here. Similarly, for
the more pernicious Japanese knotweed.
What about the rhododendron that has run
amok at Kitmere and many other places
in Loyne? It is a native of Southern Asia.
Should we seek to eradicate it? Is there
any enthusiasm for giant hogweed (from
Asia)? Its name alone suggests we can do
without it! What about all those alien plants
that Reginald Farrer brought to Clapham?
Should we demand the removal of the fine
araucaria that stands alone in a field near
the Roman milestone at Middleton? It is
not a native tree: is it a natural one?
Apart from introduced species, what
about all those plants, such as cowslip and
primrose, that used to be abundant but are
now rare or extinct? Are they, or should
they be, part of the natural environment?
So many of our lowland meadows have been taken
over for agricultural purposes that those that remain in
anything like a natural state (such as those at Raisbeck,
Bretherdale and Tatham) are so rare that have been made
Sites of Special Scientific Interest. And, as we have seen,
the grouse moors have to be carefully managed to retain
what we now consider to be their natural state.
What could be more natural than the Ingleborough
that we see in the distance? Well, we know that a century
ago it would in the autumn have looked purple from the
Crook o’Lune viewpoint. Its slopes were then heatherclad. Before that, they would have been tree-covered.
Even Aughton Woods in the middle distance are not
Near the Crook o’Lune
Walk 22: Crook o’Lune and Loyn Bridge
Starting point: The Crook o’Lune (522647).
Guidance for this suggested walk is simplicity itself: walk from the Crook o’Lune on the east side of the Lune to Loyn
Bridge and then back on the west side.
In a little more detail: Walk east over the old railway bridge and then immediately take the path right and then right again
to go under the bridge you’ve just crossed to gain the footpath on the east bank of the Lune. At the Waterworks Bridge continue
on the bank, as there is a good stretch of the Lune below Lawson’s Wood, where salmon often leap. Follow the long loop round
until you are again heading northeast. Don’t take the public footpath to Claughton but continue on the river bank where there is a
permissive footpath not marked on OS maps. This continues to the Wenning, where it is necessary to walk east to Hornby Bridge
and then back on the other side of the Wenning. Continue to Loyn Bridge where, if the footpath under the bridge is impassable
because the river is too high, you should cut up through the wood to reach the road. Walk over the bridge and take the path south
on the west bank of the Lune. As this is part of the Lune Valley Ramble there should be no difficulty in navigation. At the long
meander near Burton Wood nobody will object if, through exhaustion, you need to walk straight across.
The walk can alternatively be started from Loyn Bridge, which would have the advantage of enabling a half-way cuppa at
Woodies snack bar at the Crook o’Lune. Between the Crook o’Lune and Loyn Bridge there is only one way to cross the Lune - at
Waterworks Bridge (the footpaths marked on the OS map as crossing the Lune are not paths for feet).
Short walk variation: There are several short loop walks from the Crook o’Lune that may be combined in any way you wish:
northeast to Waterworks Bridge and back (5km); east over the old railway bridge, south on the south bank of the Lune and
back over the other bridge (1km); west over the bridge, along the south bank of the Lune to Halton Weir and back along the
Millennium Park (2km); west along the Millennium Park to the bridge at Denny Beck and back on the north bank of the Lune
through Halton Mills (4km).
entirely natural. Within Loyne the Forestry Commission
plantations, usually of conifers, occupy a greater area
than the remaining broad-leaved woodland. But before
the trees, of course, it would all have been ice-covered which is, if you take the long-term view, our most natural
state over the last million years.
There are similar considerations when we come
to consider the naturalness of Loyne’s animal life.
The red squirrel and grey squirrel debate is a familiar
one. Similarly, the otter and mink. We are seeking to
encourage the return of the former and to eradicate the
latter. What about the polecat? One has been trapped and
others sighted in Loyne. Should it be welcomed?
On farmland, do we mind alpaca (from South
America)? They are assuredly not as natural as our sheep
- the majority of which are (from) Swaledale. Why did I
include a photograph of a black swan rather than a white
one? Are we actually rather fond of the exotic?
Do we object to the red-legged partridge moving
north into our area? It is a handsome bird. Is our opinion
influenced by the fact that it was introduced as a game
bird in the 18th century (it is also known as the French
partridge)? Or that the once common grey partridge is
now on the red list of endangered species? Is it natural
for gulls to nest on Bowland Fells? Or for oystercatchers
to travel far inland? Would we welcome the eagle owl,
which has recently returned to other parts of England?
Is it more natural here than the little owl, which was
introduced in the 19th century? What about the pheasant,
introduced from Asia so long ago that nobody is quite
sure when?
Of course, none of the man-made constructions that
we see are natural. It is always the most recent (today,
the wind turbines) that are the most controversial. But
we can also see the old railway line, Low Mill at Caton,
electricity pylons, the chimneys of Claughton brickworks,
the Thirlmere aqueduct, and Hornby Castle. The last is
not even a ‘natural’ castle, since it was re-built in the
19th century to pretend to be one. To varying degrees,
we now accept these as part of the environment.
On a smaller scale, there are innumerable instances
of our tinkering with the environment. For example,
the Lune banks have in many places been reinforced
to prevent erosion. Fair enough: farmers don’t want to
see their fields disappear. But why are huge limestone
blocks often used? Their white gleam does not belong
here. As I write, a bulldozer is pushing rocks and soil
over the natural bank opposite Aughton Woods, burying
sand martin nests and anything else that happens to be
there. Just upstream from the Crook o’Lune a single
electricity wire crosses the Lune. It is surrounded by
seven prominent ‘danger of death’ signs. Fishermen
surely do not need such protection.
Almost everything mentioned in this reverie
concerns changes since Thomas Gray considered the
landscape perfect in 1769. Was the environment natural
then, or now? So many questions, but no answers. I
suppose the answer is that we should all notice, question
and decide about what we wish to see and have in our
environment.
Cuppa finished, let us move on. Beyond the meander,
the Lune curves west. Here, on a winter’s afternoon, is
a good place to spot the kingfisher, for in the absence of
other colours the setting sun makes its iridescent blue
and orange particularly vivid when seen from the south
bank. According to the Lune Waterways Bird Survey
there are at most half a dozen breeding pairs between
Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale, so their frequency here
seems surprising.
On the south bank, 100m before Forge Bank Weir,
is the Lune Intake, the first sign of any significant
management of the Lune. Up to this point the Lune
and its tributaries have run largely unrestrained from
their various fells. There used to be a millrace from
the weir to power Halton Mills, a substantial industrial
complex that survived for over two centuries, changing
when necessary between cotton, flax, leather, oilcloths
and coconut matting, until becoming derelict in the
1970s. A renovation of the site was begun in 2006 by
a company with the motto “property touches emotion”.
How true! The residents of Halton’s 1960s bungalows
angrily objected to the scores of self-contradictory “rural
townhouses”. The project has been left suspended,
unfinished, after the developers went into administration
in 2008.
Between Forge Bank Weir and Lower Halton Weir
the Lune’s natural turbulence has been increased in order
to provide rapids for canoeists. Stone banks protrude into
the flow to create eddies and waves, suitable for novices
at the lower end and experts at the higher, especially
under spate conditions.
On the south bank the Lune Millennium Park
continues along the old railway line. Various artworks are
passed, of which the most striking is that of Giles Kent,
whose website says that he creates “in situ installations
that enhance and elaborate on the natural properties of
wood … [the work] compliments the natural landscape
by responding to lines and shapes found around each
The management of the Lune is important to enable
proper use of water resources, to make flood predictions,
to assess the impact of discharges, and to support the use
of the Lune for recreation. There are four flow-measuring
stations on the Lune (at Lune’s Bridge, Tebay (3), Killington
New Bridge (6), Caton (17) and Halton (16)) and a further
four on the Conder, Hindburn, Rawthey and Wenning
tributaries. The figures in brackets show the median flows
in cubic metres per second. The Halton figure is lower than
the Caton one because of water extraction, particularly at
the Lune Intake.
Water is pumped from the Lune to help provide
Langthwaite Reservoir with Lancaster’s water supply and
also to be transferred to the River Wyre along a 13km
pipeline as part of Lancashire’s ‘conjunctive use scheme’.
The Wyre catchment is heavily exploited for industrial and
public water supply and may be supplemented from the
Lune, provided that its flow is high enough.
There are over a hundred licences for water abstraction
from the Lune and its tributaries and if all the allowed
water were taken the Lune would be ‘over licensed’, that
is, flows would fall below necessary levels. Thankfully,
the actual level of abstraction is lower than licensed and
has decreased recently because of changes in the region’s
industry.
The nature of the Lune catchment area makes
this monitoring important. Flows in the floodplain are
determined by rainfall on the fells, and these run-offs have
different characteristics. Rain in the Howgills runs quickly
off the hills but in the Dales water percolates into limestone
until it is saturated, giving rise to flash flood conditions.
The continued health of the Loyne riverside flora and
fauna depends upon maintaining the required conditions
of erosion and sedimentation, and this needs to be better
understood.
particular site”. There are nine upside-down larch trunks
with roots aloft.
The park reaches the old Halton railway station,
which looks different from all the others we’ve passed
because it was re-built in 1907 after a fire. By the station
there’s a temporary-looking bridge across the Lune that
has stood since 1913. The crossing here has a chequered
history. While the railway was being built there was no
bridge across the Lune here and workers were ferried
across from Halton. In 1849 eight of them died when
washed away in a flood. Today such an event would be a
national tragedy; then it seems to have been accepted as
a price to be paid. A new bridge was opened in December
1849: it wouldn’t do to have potential customers from
Halton washed away. This was swept away in 1869 and
replaced in the same year. This in turn was replaced in
1913 by using the remains of the old Greyhound Bridge
then being demolished in Lancaster. The bridge operated
as a toll bridge until the 1960s and since the railway line
closed in 1966 it has been a matter of contention who is
responsible for its upkeep.
North of the Lune is the village of Halton, the
larger eastern part of which is mainly new housing for
commuters but the older part of which is rich in heritage.
This part is clustered around the small tributary of Cote
Beck, which enters the Lune unobtrusively 200m below
the bridge. Cote Beck arises south of Nether Kellet,
rather tentatively, as is usual in limestone country,
below the large quarries. It runs by the M6 and then past
Furnace Cottage, where Cote Beck used to be called
Foundry Beck.
Below Dale Wood, Cote Beck passes the site of
Halton’s motte and bailey castle, now marked by a
flagpole. The site is relatively small but the motte, rising
3m above the bailey, can be clearly seen (although the
present top is not original) and traces of the bailey are
visible despite recent ploughing. The site is on private
land.
On the other side of the beck is the church, dedicated
to St Wilfrid, a 7th century Archbishop of York. Maybe
there was a church here from that time, although the
earliest remains are 12th century Norman stones built into
the arch. As we have seen with other churches, the tower
was retained when the church was rebuilt (by Paley &
Austin again) in the 19th century.
A Roman altar was found in the churchyard in 1794
and is now in the Lancaster City Museum. It bears an
inscription to the god Mars from Sabinus and his unit of
boatmen, perhaps grateful for their safe passage up the
Lune from Lancaster. There is no other evidence of any
Roman settlement at Halton, although it is likely that
there was a camp on what became the site of the castle
and it is assumed that there was a Roman road on the
north bank of the Lune up to Whittington and over a ford
The Lune at Halton
to Over Burrow. Still in the churchyard is a cross carved
with Christian symbols and a version of the Sigurd the
Volsung legend by Norse settlers who came to the region
in the 10th century. It is 3.5m high, mounted on three
steps, with the top parts having been rather inexpertly
reassembled.
Halton, then, was an important centre before
the Norman Conquest, when it was held, like many
places we’ve visited, by Earl Tostig. At the time of the
Domesday survey, Halton was regarded as the centre
of lower Lune, with twenty-two villages, including
Lancaster, considered to belong to the manor of Halton.
When Roger of Poitou took over, he preferred to make
Lancaster his centre and the importance
of Halton waned. The Royal Foresters,
responsible for managing the king’s
forests in Lancashire, had Halton for
their principal manor until the Gernet
inheritance passed to the Dacre family
in about 1290. The lords of the manor
in 1715, the Carus family, perhaps still
smarting from Halton’s subordination to
Lancaster, gave helpful information to
the Jacobite Army on its way to occupy
Lancaster. From the 18th century, the
manor house, Halton Hall, passed through
several hands, gradually being split up
and demolished. Only one 19th century
wing remains, the rest having gone by the
1930s, apart from the boathouse on the
Lune.
The Lune is slow, deep and wide,
and local rowing clubs make good use of
this section, down towards Skerton Weir.
Rowers get the best view of the fine M6
bridge, whose single-span arch of 70m
provides a frame for an attractive stretch
of the Lune.
In view of the on-going controversy
about a proposed link road from the M6
just north of the Lune to Heysham, it is
interesting that this was already part of
the original plan in the 1950s. It was only
when the Lancaster emergency services
expressed concern at the difficulties of
gaining access to the motorway that an
interchange south of the Lune was built,
to lower design standards than normal and
only later, after public representation, that it was opened
for general use.
After passing the Halton Training Camp for army
cadets on the north bank and a hotel and industrial
buildings on the south, the Lune reaches the Lune
Aqueduct, one of the finest aqueducts in England. It is
200m long, with five semi-circular arches carrying the
Lancaster Canal 18m above the Lune. It was one of
the first bridges designed by John Rennie, who went on
to design Waterloo Bridge and London Bridge, and was
a great civil engineering feat for its time. The aqueduct
was completed in 1797 and some indication of its impact
and aesthetic appeal can be gained from the fact that
The Viking cross at St Wilfrid’s, Halton
The M6 bridge
Turner sketched it on his 1797 tour of northern England.
This was the only time on his tour that he addressed
a contemporary subject, although he could not resist
framing a view of Lancaster Castle within one of the
arches.
However, the grandeur of the aqueduct’s design was
not without its critics. A committee set up in 1819 to
review progress on the Lancaster Canal commented that
resources had been wasted in “ornamenting the town of
Lancaster, with a grand aqueduct over the Lune, upon
which the water had lain stagnant for over twenty years.”
It is not stagnant now: it is leaking. The aqueduct was
closed for repairs in 2009, as part of a £3m project to
develop the Lancaster Canal as a key part of the visitor
infrastructure.
After 1km the Lune reaches Skerton Weir, the
normal tidal limit. A weir has existed here for centuries,
to provide water for a millrace to power corn mills by
the Lune, but the present structure was built in 1979 to
prevent salt water entering intakes for the Lune-side
industries upstream. It does, of course, have a fish pass
for salmon and trout.
The weir is of disappointing design. It is unsightly;
it is not integrated into the so-called riverside parks
to provide an appealing leisure amenity; and it is a
hazard for river users, who are regularly swept over
it, sometimes with fatal consequences. The UK Rivers
guidebook describes the weir as “extremely dangerous”
and “lethal in high water”, rating the weir as grade 6
on the International Grading Scale, that is, the highest
possible (or most dangerous) grade.
In the past the weir was renowned for its salmon
fishing. Fishing is now regulated by the Environment
Agency, who own three beats on the Lune. Fishing directly
below the weir is prohibited but further downstream flyfishing is allowed. Above the weir, coarse fishing with
a single rod is permitted, outside the close season, of
course. The Agency’s other two beats are upstream, at
Halton Lower Beat and Halton Top Beat. The former is a
game fishery, best fished at high water; the latter is slow,
deep water and is said to be the most productive of all
the Agency’s salmon fisheries.
The Lune flows through the built-up areas on the
outskirts of Lancaster and the becks, such as they are, run
unobtrusively through culverts to the river. For example,
Newton Beck joins on the east bank from the estates of
Ridge and Newton. On the west bank is Skerton, which
was mentioned as a separate village in the Domesday
Lancaster Canal was intended to connect Kendal with
Houghton, and hence the Leeds–Liverpool Canal, but has
yet to achieve that goal. The Act approving its construction
was passed in 1792 and the sections from Tewitfield to
Preston and from Walton Summit (6km south of Preston)
to Houghton were completed by 1803. The costs, however,
were high: for example, the bill for the Lune Aqueduct
(£48,000) was nearly three times the original estimate.
The Kendal to Tewitfield section took until 1819 but
no canal link between Preston and Walton Summit was
constructed – until 2003, when the Millennium Ribble Link
was finally built. But by this time the Kendal to Tewitfield
section, now cut off by the M6, had largely been filled in.
The grandly named Association for the Restoration of the
Lancaster Canal, formed in 1963 at the time of the M6enforced separation, still hopes to re-open the Kendal to
Tewitfield section for navigation.
The Lancaster Canal is misnamed because, although
it was intended to help get goods to and from Lancaster
avoiding the Lune, the main beneficiaries were Preston and
Kendal and other villages en route. Preston, which had its
own problems with navigation in the Ribble, was in 1792
smaller than Lancaster but its population trebled in thirty
years as new markets opened up. The main effect within
Lancaster, which had lacked water-powered mills, was the
development of steam-powered mills alongside the canal,
where coal could be delivered easily.
The eight-hour journey from Kendal to Preston
could not compete with the railway when it arrived and
the Lancaster Canal Company was duly dissolved in 1886,
with the last freight being carried in 1947.
Today, the 66km from Tewitfield to Preston is for
leisure only. As it follows the contour there are no locks, to
the disappointment of today’s canal travellers, who seem to
revel in them. If that makes the canal too boring they could
try counting the bridges (Lancaster City Museum asserts
that there are 247 of them, including 22 aqueducts – which
I assume includes those bridges still standing, mysteriously,
in fields between Kendal and Tewitfield). Or they could
tackle the Ribble Link, which has nine locks in 6km.
Book and remained apart from Lancaster until the late
19th century.
Skerton Bridge was designed by Thomas Harrison,
who had studied in Italy, and is in a classical style
similar to that of the old Roman bridge at Rimini. Its flat
roadway and use of balustrades across the width were
innovatory for English bridges. There are five elliptical
arches, each spanning 20m. It was completed in 1788 and
soon influenced other designers. We might, for example,
detect an echo of Skerton Bridge in the Lune Aqueduct,
for John Rennie came to see it and a flat design was
exactly what was needed for the aqueduct.
A sixth, inferior arch was later added to Skerton
Bridge on the east bank for the Wennington-Lancaster
railway line. The station was just south of the bridge
at Green Ayre, which is today a rare example of an
industrial site that has been returned to a green field,
quiet apart from the skate-boarders’ ramp and the
traffic. The railway line continued from Green Ayre over
Greyhound Bridge to Poulton-le-Sands, or Morecambe
as it became called. The present Greyhound Bridge was
built in 1911, replacing earlier bridges of 1849 and 1864,
and converted for road traffic after the closure of the
railway line in 1966.
Green Ayre has had a long and active past. Some
experts believe that at the time of the Romans, Green
Ayre was an island, with the main flow of the Lune
being south of its present course, along the line of
the present Damside Street. A millrace followed this
line and powered what is believed to be the oldest
recorded water mill in Lancashire, being referred to in
the borough charter of 1193. Green Ayre then became
a busy quay and from 1763 a shipyard. It doesn’t seem
an ideal spot for such activities because the old bridge,
dating back to at least the 13th century, prevented large
ships from reaching Green Ayre. Newly built ships were
floated from the shipyard under the bridge in parts and
assembled downstream.
When Skerton Bridge was built the old bridge
became redundant. The shipyard bought the bridge
in 1800 and removed one arch, which reduced its
functionality somewhat but allowed tall ships to pass
through. By 1845 the whole bridge had fallen down or
been demolished.
The Millennium Bridge, opened in 2001 for
cyclists and pedestrians only, is roughly where the old
bridge stood. Opinions on this new bridge are mixed:
some people don’t like it much; others don’t like it at
all. Certainly, for cyclists and pedestrians it is a boon,
because for them Skerton Bridge and Greyhound Bridge
are inconvenient and dangerous. The bridge is a key part
of the Lune Millennium Park, linking the cycleways
along the old railway lines from Caton and Morecambe
to form part of National Cycle Network route 6. It was
designed by Whitby Bird, cost £1.8m, has a span of
64m and is suspended from 40m masts. Perhaps we will
eventually come to admire the classic view of Lancaster’s
castle and priory now framed by the long blue fingers
that are supposed to echo old sailing ships.
From Green Ayre, the castle and priory look as
one, overseeing the city of Lancaster, dominating the
strategically important lowest old fording point of the
Lune, and providing extensive views over Morecambe
Bay and up the Lune valley to Ingleborough. What is
now called Castle Hill was settled long before the castle
existed, with Neolithic and Bronze Age artefacts having
been found here.
The Romans recognised its key position overlooking
a main route between Scotland and western England. Of
the Roman fort that was based on Castle Hill there is little
to be seen but more than we saw at Low Borrowbridge
and Over Burrow. Most of the site is under the present
castle and priory but to the north in Vicarage Fields
the remains of a 2nd century bathhouse, excavated and
preserved in 1973, can be seen. The meagreness of the
remains does not excuse the shabbiness of the site and the
shamefully poor foreign language information board.
When Roger of Poitou moved his base from Halton
to Lancaster he no doubt built a motte and bailey castle
within the site of the old fort, although there is no trace
of this castle today. The Domesday Book records a
village called Loncastre here. The castle would have
been rebuilt in stone and strengthened part by part. The
12th century keep is the oldest surviving part. Scottish
raiders in 1322 and 1389 ruined much of Lancaster but
spared the castle and, to a lesser extent, the priory. During
the Civil War, Parliament ordered that the castle (apart
from the courts and gaol) be demolished but in 1663 the
king agreed to have it repaired. The gatehouse, the most
impressive external feature, is 15th century, with the John
of Gaunt statue added to it in 1822.
The grandeur of the long-distance view, with the
battlements on the skyline, is not sustained at close
quarters, where the bland, relatively modern, external
wall dominates. If you prefer a castle to be in dramatic
ruins redolent of historic battles then Lancaster Castle
is a disappointment: it is still in good enough repair to
Greyhound Bridge and the Millennium Bridge below the castle and priory
continue as a working castle, functioning as court and
prison. Even so, it is arguably Lancashire’s greatest
historical building.
Lancashire became a County Palatine in 1351,
with John of Gaunt becoming Duke of Lancaster, a title
that passed to his son, who became Henry IV in 1399.
Since that date the monarch has continued to be Duke
of Lancaster and has retained the Duchy and the castle
as a separate estate to those of the Crown. As county
town, Lancaster held the Assizes two or three times a
year. They were held in the Crown Court from 1176 until
1971, when a Royal Commission on Assizes, chaired
by Lord Beeching (a second, and less controversial,
Beeching Report), recommended changes. Until 1835
it had been the only Assize Court in Lancashire. The
regular influx of Lancastrian gentry helped to sustain
Lancaster’s relative importance and to preserve its status
as county town even after the Industrial Revolution.
According to H.V. Morton’s In Search of England
(1927), “It is remarkable that Lancashire, which
possesses Liverpool and Manchester, should own a
delicious, sleepy, old county town like Lancaster, and
this is itself symbolic of the fact that the great industrial
new-rich cities of northern England – vast and mighty
as they are – fall into perspective as mere black specks
against the mighty background of history and the great
green expanse of fine country which is the real North of
England.” Since then, the black specks of Liverpool and
Manchester have been evicted from Lancashire.
Over the centuries, many famous and infamous
trials have been held at the castle. In 1612 ten ‘Pendle
witches’ were sentenced to death. Between 1584 and
1646 seventeen Roman Catholic priests were executed.
From 1660, about 270 Quakers, including George Fox,
were imprisoned. Innumerable felons were sentenced to
death, to provide public spectacles that up to 1799 were
held on the moor east of Lancaster and between 1799
and 1865 at what is now called Hanging Corner, outside
the castle. Grammar school boys were given a half-day
off to learn the price of sin. This entertainment was more
frequent than elsewhere, as the Lancaster court passed
more death sentences than any other.
We do things differently nowadays, but less so than
we might think. In 1975 the Birmingham Six, accused of
the Birmingham pub-bombings, were tried in Lancaster,
which with its high security prison next to the court was
felt safest for Britain’s biggest mass-murder trial. They
were sentenced to life imprisonment mainly on the basis
The name Loncastre may prompt some speculation on
the origin of the name ‘Lune’. Since the Domesday Book
the name has appeared in many forms (Lon, Loin, Loon,
Lonn, Lone, Lona, Loune, Loone, Loyne, Loine, Lan, and,
of course, Lune) but clearly it has pre-Norman origins.
There is not yet agreement on what the Romans called
their fort at Lancaster. The assignment of Alauna or Alone
is now discredited. Possibly it was the Calunio or Caluvio
of what’s called the Ravenna Cosmography. The Artle
Beck milestone’s “I L M P IIII” suggests that the name
began with ‘L’. It seems probable, then, that a Lune-like
name existed in Roman times.
So the origin is lost in pre-history and, in this case, we
may as well adopt a suggestion that appeals. Eilert Ekwall
concludes in English River Names (1928) that it comes
from the old Irish (and probably old British) slán, meaning
healthy, sound or safe, which is a fair enough description
of the Lune.
of confessions that were extracted under conditions that
“if the defendants’ stories were to be believed [implied
that] many police officers had behaved in a manner that
recalled the Star Chamber, the rack and the thumbscrews
of four or five hundred years ago”, as the judge said in
his summing up. They had – and the convictions were
eventually overturned in 1991.
The Shire Hall and Crown Court, which were
designed by Thomas Harrison and completed in 1798,
may be seen, along with Hanging Corner, in a tour of the
castle. In the Shire Hall are the heraldic shields of all High
Sheriffs of Lancashire since 1129. The High Sheriffs
are appointed annually and the ceremony of Shield
Hanging is deemed so important that it necessitated an
adjournment of the Birmingham Six trial. Within the
castle, the tour includes the ancient keep, the dungeons
and the medieval Hadrian’s Tower and Well Tower (or
Witches’ Tower).
Next to the castle stands Lancaster Priory. At
least, that is what everyone calls it although there has
not been a prior here since 1430. The church is said to
date from 630, or earlier. There is a Saxon doorway in
the west wall of the nave. The priory was founded in
the 11th century and Roger of Poitou promptly gave it
to the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Martin of Seez in
Normandy. This arrangement, whereby income was sent
to France, was strained by our war-like relationship with
that country and duly ended in 1414 when Henry V gave
the priory to the Convent of Syon in Middlesex. The
priory then became the parish church of Lancaster and
Lancaster Castle gatehouse
with the Dissolution of the Monasteries came under the
see of Chester.
Unlike most other churches we have met, the
tower (of the 18th century) is newer than the rest, which
mainly dates from a 15th century restoration. In external
appearance it retains the graceful serenity that we like
to imagine for that period. Internally, there have been
changes but not to the most outstanding feature, the
carved choir stalls of about 1340, which some people
consider the finest in England.
Despite its long history, Lancaster has few buildings
older than 1750, other than the castle and priory. Most
of its fine stone buildings in the Georgian style date
from the 18th and 19th century. Usually unnoticed,
perhaps because they are understandably not near the
city centre, are some impressive buildings that possibly
result from Lancaster’s role as county town. The Royal
Albert Asylum for “idiots and imbeciles of the seven
northern counties” was built in 1870, its opening being
declared a public holiday, suggesting that it was a matter
of civic pride. It closed as a hospital in 1996 and is now
the Jamea Al Kauthar Islamic College, catering for over
four hundred girls from across the world. The Ripley
Orphanage was built in 1864 and is now a school and the
1816 County Lunatic Asylum at Lancaster Moor, which
cared for three thousand people, has been converted into
The Top 10 historical sites in Loyne
By ‘historical’ I mean anything over a hundred years old:
1. Lancaster Castle
2. Norber erratics, near Austwick
3. Brigflatts, near Sedbergh
4. Castle Stede, Hornby
5. Middleton Hall
6. Sedgwick Trail, Garsdale
7. Leck Fell ancient mounds
8. Rayseat Long Cairn, near Sunbiggin
9. Claughton brickworks
10. Low Borrowbridge
The Jamea Al Kauthar Islamic College (née the Royal Albert)
The Judges’ Lodgings
residences, with the 1883 annexe currently up
for sale.
The Lune passes the most visible
indication of Lancaster’s period of prosperity,
St George’s Quay, built to inspire the ‘golden
age’ of Lancaster’s shipping trade, from
1750 to 1800. An Act was passed in 1749 “for
improving the navigation of the River Loyne,
otherwise called Lune, and for building a Quay
or Wharf, etc.” This was in spite of, or because
of, the difficulties that the port faced. Daniel
Defoe wrote in about 1730 that Lancaster
had “little to recommend it but a decayed
castle and a more decayed port” and Samuel
Simpson considered in 1746 that “the port is
so choaked up with sand, that it is incapable of
receiving ships of any considerable burden, and
consequently trade finds little encouragement
here.”
St George’s Quay was duly built by 1755,
with merchants buying blocks of land behind
the new quay wall to build warehouses. The
Custom House, for the payment of harbour
dues, was built in 1764 with graceful Ionic
columns, to the design of Richard Gillow,
who had a particular interest in the success of
the quay because his company (founded by
his father, Robert) depended on the import of
mahogany from the West Indies. The Gillow
company became world famous for the quality
of its furniture, still widely admired today.
Samples of its work can be seen in the Lancaster
Town Hall and in the Gillow Museum, which
is housed in the Judges’ Lodgings, Lancaster’s
finest town house. Later, Gillows fitted out
royal yachts but, after merging with S.J. Waring
in 1903, the company closed in 1961.
Today, most of the warehouses have been
converted into flats. The Custom House ceased
functioning in 1882 and passed through various
roles, including that of theatre, before finding
an eminently suitable one as the Maritime
Museum in 1985. The museum provides an
excellent picture of the lower Lune, including
the port, the canal and Morecambe Bay.
While we are on an aquatic theme, I’ll
mention the zenith of Loyne’s sporting prowess.
The region has no major sporting venues or
St George’s Quay from the Millennium Bridge
The Priory and Custom House across the Lune
(the view after the trees were removed and before a 1.4m high flood defence barrier was installed)
events but in the suitably unsung sport of water polo
Lancaster won the British Championship every year
from 2003 to 2009, with the exception of 2008.
The Lune passes under its 43rd and last bridge,
Carlisle Bridge, for the west coast main line. Its
construction in 1846 conceded defeat for St George’s
Quay, because larger ships could no longer reach it.
The 1848 OS map marks Scale Ford 0.5km below the
bridge, indicating that the Lune here was much too
shallow for large boats anyway. In fact, in 1826 the new
steam ship John o’Gaunt had run aground here, much
to the disappointment (or amusement) of the assembled
spectators. The Port Commission did not give up
entirely: it used the compensation received from the
railway company to develop New Quay downriver of
the bridge.
Lancaster’s shipping trade, in terms of ships arriving
from or leaving for foreign ports, peaked in 1800 at 78
ships. It is a common, but mistaken, belief that Lancaster
was once a much bigger port than Liverpool and that it was
the rapid growth of the latter that ended Lancaster’s trade.
The figures show that both Lancaster and Liverpool were
minor ports in the early 17th century, with Lancaster being
the smaller, and that Lancaster grew slowly through the
18th century as Liverpool grew faster.
The main trade was with the West Indies, importing
sugar, rum, mahogany and cotton and exporting hardware
and woollen goods. Lancaster was the fourth largest port
for the West Indies trade, with about 8% of the outward
and 5% of the inward trade. The disparity in the two figures
results from Lancaster taking less part in the triangular slave
trade (whereby ships travelled to Africa, then America and
back to England) than other ports. The register shows that
the highest number of ships travelling from Lancaster to
Africa in any one year was 6 in 1772 (Liverpool registered
107 such ships in 1771).
There was also considerable European trade, such
as the import of timber from the Baltic, and much local
shipping: in 1800, 273 ships registered for trade within
Britain. After 1800, wars at sea harmed foreign trade
generally and continued silting harmed the port of Lancaster
in particular. Several local banks failed and merchants
took their trade to Liverpool and elsewhere. Although the
numbers of ships continued to rise until 1845, reaching a
peak of 712, very few of these were from overseas and
Lancaster’s proportion of the increased national trade was
much reduced. The quay was transferred from the Port
Commission to Lancaster Corporation in 1901.
The Top 10 cultural sites in Loyne
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Maritime Museum, Lancaster
Lancaster City Museum
Ruskin Library, Lancaster University
Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
Storey Gallery, Lancaster
Judges’ Lodgings, Lancaster
Dent Village Heritage Centre
Cottage Museum, Lancaster
Bentham Pottery
Finestra Gallery, Kirkby Lonsdale
The Lune Shipbuilding Company was established
beside New Quay in 1863, aiming to build iron clippers.
Its first ship, the Wennington (the company chairman
lived at Wennington Hall), took three sets of emigrants
to New Zealand before disappearing in the Bali Straits
in 1878. The Lune Shipbuilding Company had already
disappeared by then, having gone bust in 1870, after
building just fourteen ships.
The site was then bought to extend St George’s
Works, a factory built from 1854. By the 1890s this
was said to be the biggest factory in the world owned
by a single man. There is no way of verifying this
now (although it seems unlikely) but the factory was
certainly large enough to employ a quarter of Lancaster’s
workforce. The ‘single man’ was James Williamson the
younger. His father, also James, had invented a type of
oilcloth as a table baize and set up the company, which
the son took over in 1875 and developed to manufacture
linoleum, in particular. He eventually became Lord
Ashton – the Lord Linoleum of Philip Gooderson’s 1995
book, Lord Linoleum: Lord Ashton, Lancaster and the
Rise of the British Oilcloth and Linoleum Industry.
In 2004 a £10m project for the Lancaster Economic
Development Zone was launched to revitalise ‘Luneside
East’. The industrial eyesore is being cleared and sold
to developers to build a “high quality, mixed-use urban
neighbourhood” by 2009, it was originally hoped.
However, in June 2008 the firm that had planned to
build 327 homes withdrew as a result of the housing
market downturn. In preparation, a 3km-long flood
defence has been installed, designed to protect lower
Lancaster against all except 1-in-500-year floods. It is a
bold person who will predict the effect of climate change
on sea levels in 500 years time.
CHAPTER 14:
The Salt Marshes
218 Chapter 14: The Salt Marshes
M6
r Lune
Rive
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Ashton
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Rowton Brook
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Glasson
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• Conder Green
Galgate
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Burrow
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Ward’s
Stone
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ec
Overton
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Co
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Thurnham •
0
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
5 kilometres
The Lune from Lancaster ... 219
B
The Lune from Lancaster ...
eyond Carlisle Bridge the Lune swings south
and takes on a different character - in fact, two
characters and all shades in between. If the tide
is out and there is little water flowing down the Lune,
it is a gentle, low river, with sandy, or at least lightly
muddy, beaches, providing long, flat views. If the tide is
in and the Lune is flowing high, then it becomes a wide,
raging river, threatening flood defences.
These conditions give rise to the characteristic
coastal salt marshes of the lower Lune. The marshes
form from marine alluvium deposited in sheltered areas
that are covered only by occasional high tides. Aldcliffe
Marsh, Heaton Marsh, Colloway Marsh, Lades Marsh
and Glasson Marsh continue for 6km, on both banks of
the Lune, down to Morecambe Bay. There’s an esoteric
appeal to these remote, simple, almost primeval,
landscapes, often aglow under the setting sun. The land
is naturally flat and open, heavily fissured with creeks,
and littered with the debris of high tides and floods. If
grazed the marshes are a close-cut, deep green; if not,
they are in summer full of colourful flowers such as
thrift and sea asters.
The Lune passes Salt Ayre, which, like Green Ayre
upriver, used to be an island (the parish boundary, which
presumably follows the old course of the river, runs
through Salt Ayre). It is now a sizable hill, of which
the good citizens of Lancaster and Morecambe may be
proud – it is created from their rubbish. Beyond Salt
Ayre is the Golden Ball pub, facing the detritus left by
tidal waters. It is known as ‘Snatchems’ because of the
legend that passing ships short of crewmembers would
grab inebriated drinkers from the pub, a tradition that
has sadly lapsed. A similar custom would be welcome
for the modern pest, the jet-skiers who are increasingly
ruining the calm of the Lune estuary, now that they are
no longer allowed on Windermere.
The salt marshes require peace – not for us,
because the winding creeks and glutinous mud make
this dangerous territory, but for the thousands of birds
that gather here. There are no buildings on the marshes
and the isolation and, ideally, tranquillity make this fine
feeding and roosting ground for many wildfowl and
wading birds, such as Bewick’s swans, little egrets,
ringed plovers and spotted redshanks.
Inland of the salt marshes are low coastal drumlins.
They are oval-shaped, aligned north to south, indicating
the direction of glacial flow. The scattered farmsteads
Two pages before: Bazil Point, Overton.
Below: The Lune at the Golden Ball.
are sited on the gentle slopes above the poorly drained
pastures, with the few trees bent by the prevailing wind.
The whole peninsula south of Morecambe reaches no
higher than Colloway Hill (36m). Inland of the low
Heaton-Colloway ridge is a wide, flat expanse, formerly
of bogs and mosses but now reclaimed pasture, with
many ditches lined with rushes. Seawaters have no doubt
inundated the area in the past. Today, it is traversed by
power lines from the nuclear power station and by the
A683 to Heysham, for people travelling to the many
caravan parks nestling by the power station.
On the east bank, the land rises to the old village of
Aldcliffe, which has managed to remain detached from
Lancaster. It has not, however, managed to retain its old
hall, once known as the Hall of the Catholic Virgins. In
the 17th century Aldcliffe Hall was the property of ten
sisters of Thomas Dalton of Thurnham, who was killed
at Newbury fighting for Charles I. Seven of them were
convicted of recusancy in 1640 and much of their estate
sequestered (this, as mentioned in the previous chapter,
was the period when Catholic priests were being
executed in Lancaster). After the restoration of Charles
II, two of the sisters felt bold enough in 1674 to set up a
stone inscription saying (in Latin) “Catholic virgins are
we; even with time we disdain to change.” They were
too bold, it transpired, for after the Jacobite Rebellion
of 1715 the government enquired into all estates held by
Catholics and duly confiscated Aldcliffe Hall, considering
that it was “given to Popish and superstitious uses”.
The hall, or rather its replacement built in 1817,
was demolished in 1960. The land is now occupied
by peaceful suburbia. It would not, however, still be
peaceful if the 1998 proposal for a western bypass from
the M6 at Hampson Green across the Lune to Heysham
had been approved. The road would have passed within
200m of Aldcliffe. Residents argued that a northern
bypass would be better but, in the end, they were saved
more by the bats and great crested newts, both European
protected species.
Along the Lune the flat horizons are broken only
by the tall pylons from Heysham Power Station. If these
should seem alien to you it might help to recall the words
of Stephen Spender in his 1933 poem ‘The Pylons’, a
poem that heralded a new school of poets, the Pylon
Poets, who used technological imagery as themes. He
wrote “... Pylons, those pillars bare like nude giant girls
that have no secret ...”. Nude girls?! - I think I prefer to
continue to see them as eyesores.
The ridge between the Lune and the A6 continues
south, past the old village of Stodday, where the wooded
gardens of the secluded Lunecliffe Hall (formerly
Stodday Lodge) were said to have Roman remains, to
its highest point at Burrow Heights (59m), below which
Burrow Beck runs to the Lune.
Aldcliffe Marsh, looking towards the Lakeland hills
Burrow Beck 221
Two lines of pylons from Heysham Power Station
marching over the old breakwaters on the Lune
Burrow Beck
W
e followed the Roman road down the Lune valley,
from the Fairmile Road near Tebay, past Over
Burrow, by the assumed road that ran past the milestone
found at Caton, and on to the fort at Lancaster. Fine
place though it is, Lancaster is unlikely to have been the
Romans’ final destination. Common sense tells us that,
in addition to the high road we met crossing the Bowland
Fells above Lowgill, there would be a road heading
south on the low coastal plains. And remembering Low
Borrowbridge and Over Burrow, the name of Burrow
Beck, flowing around Burrow Heights, will raise our
suspicions.
Sure enough, aerial photographs indicate an old
road to the east of the trig point on Burrow Heights,
leading towards the Roman road known to pass east
of Garstang, heading for Ribchester. More tangibly,
four carved figures and two pillars were found near
Burrow Heights in the late 18th and early 19th century.
The pillars are usually described as milestones although
they are half the height of the Caton milestone and their
inscriptions only honour the emperor, without giving
distances anywhere.
Other finds confirm that a road set off from Lancaster
along the line of what is now Penny Street. Evidence
is still being uncovered. In 2005 a memorial plaque or
headstone, over 1m square, was found north of the canal
by Aldcliffe Road. The inscription is to Insus, son of
Vodullus, and the stone depicts a soldier on horseback
above a kneeling, decapitated man. The Lancaster
Roman Cavalry Tombstone, as it is now called, is on
display in Lancaster City Museum
Burrow Beck runs quietly for 7km from just east
of the Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park through
Bowerham and Scotforth, the southern suburbs of
Lancaster, to Ashton Hall by the Lune. The memorial
and the park were given to Lancaster by, and named
after, the industrialist, James Williamson, later Lord
Ashton. When ennobled in 1895, he named himself
after the manor of Ashton, where he had bought the
hall in 1884. He also gave to Lancaster the Town Hall
and the Victoria Monument, with a mural of Victorian
worthies, including his father. All this, together with
his high-profile roles as Liberal MP, High Sheriff, town
councillor, justice of the peace, and so on, might suggest
that he was no shrinking violet but he was apparently
a very private man. He did not allow any portraits of
himself in the Town Hall: the imposing one that now
stands at the top of the main stairway was added later.
Williamson Park was created in 1881 from the old
Lancaster Moor quarry, stones from which had been used
to build most of Lancaster’s houses. The neo-classical
Ashton Memorial of 1909 is often described as a folly,
which my dictionary defines as “a building of strange
or fanciful shape, that has no particular purpose.” That
seems a slander on the designer (John Belcher) and a
slur to the second wife of Lord Ashton, for whom it
was intended as a memorial. If we called it the Jessie
Ashton Memorial then we wouldn’t mistake it for selfaggrandizement. It is said that the lady with whom
Lord Ashton took up after his wife’s death demurred
at such an ostentatious memorial to her
predecessor in the lord’s affections. The
plaque in the memorial merely says that
it is to the Ashton family.
Today, it is the most prominent
landmark in Lancaster, a proud symbol
to all who pass on the M6. However,
before it was restored in 1987, Lancaster
residents seemed to disown it. According
to the Lancaster City Museum exhibit,
Lord Ashton left Lancaster in high
dudgeon in 1911 to live at Lytham St
Anne’s. Writing to the local paper, he
said that some of his workforce had
become “disloyal and discontented” by
joining trade unions and voting Labour.
In return, the locals were content to let
the memorial (which they called ‘the
structure’) fall into decay, which it did.
Their attitude may have been coloured by
the fact that unlike most other industrial
philanthropists of the time he did not
provide any buildings of direct use to
his workers. He did, however, kindly
provide a footbridge by Carlisle Bridge
so that his Skerton workforce could get
to his factory.
Lord Ashton’s main home was
Ryelands House in Skerton rather
than the grand Ashton Hall. The hall
had been rebuilt in 1856 to retain a
tower probably of the 14th century. The
manor of Ashton was part of the lands
of Roger of Poitou until taken over by
the Lancaster family in 1102. Over the
centuries, the estate passed through the
hands of the Laurences, the Gerards,
the Gilberts, the Hamiltons, and the
Starkies, before reaching the Williamsons. The hall is
now the headquarters of Lancaster Golf Club.
Burrow Beck runs across the golf course, through
an ancient fishpond, into a lake, and under the old
Lancaster-Glasson railway line, completed in 1883,
before dribbling into the Lune. Lord Ashton had a
private railway station (Waterloo) at which trains could
be flagged down.
A further kilometre south the River Conder crosses
salt marsh into the Lune.
The Jessie Ashton Memorial
The River Conder 223
The Lune after Burrow Beck joins, with a fisherman trying a variant of the traditional method of haaf netting
The River Conder
T
he River Conder arises at the Conder Head spring to
the north of Clougha and flows west through Cragg
Wood to the parish of Quernmore. The parish stretches
10km from Halton to Ellel and has long been settled.
Two Roman kilns have been found, one below Lythe
Brow Wood and the other near the village of Quernmore.
In medieval times, Quernmore was a hunting forest, at
one time in the charge of the Gernets of Halton and later
passing into the hands of the Duchy of Lancaster. It
was sold by the crown in 1630. The present Quernmore
Park Hall was built in 1794 by Thomas Harrison for the
Gibson family.
On Birk Bank there is a large three-arched bridge
over Ottergear Clough and two sturdy towers. The
function of these structures is unclear although they
presumably have something to do with the Thirlmere
Aqueduct. Below these slopes a few areas of reed bed,
a rare habitat for Loyne, are being restored, perhaps to
enable bearded tit and marsh harrier to breed.
The Conder merges with Mother Dyke, from near
Quernmore Park Hall, and passes the isolated St Peter’s
Church, built in 1834. At Conder Mill, below the now
ornamental pond, it is joined by Rowton Brook, which
arises, properly enough, on Rowton Brook Fell on the
south flank of Clougha Pike (413m). Clougha Pike is not
really a peak, although it looks so from the southwest,
but is merely the end of the westerly ridge from Ward’s
Stone. Its position offers an extensive panorama
that includes, circling from the east: Ward’s Stone,
Hawthornthwaite Fell, Snowdon (on a very clear day),
Blackpool Tower, Morecambe Bay, the Isle of Man (on
a clear day), the Lakeland fells, the Howgills, Whernside
and Ingleborough. At closer quarters is a view of the
Lune valley, from its estuary up to the Lune Gorge in
the Howgills.
In 1851 it was proposed to use the waters of Rowton
Brook for a reservoir to supply water to Lancaster.
However, the city architect Edmund Sharpe asked, “why
… are we to drink the miserable storage of a dribbling
brook, four miles off, when we have at our very feet the
magnificent storage of the river Lune, through which a
whole river runs daily to change and purify it?” In the
end, it was decided, rather cheekily, to use the nearby
Grizedale Brook, which drains to the Wyre, for the
reservoir. The Lune was used much later.
To the north of Rowton Brook the jumbles of
millstone grit provide evidence of the quarrying of
querns that gave the region its name. In the fields you
may well see sheepdogs at work and, if not, you will
certainly hear them within Rooten Brook Farm, where
a dozen dogs are housed. These are no ordinary dogs
– they are the dogs of the champion sheepdog trialling
family, the Longtons. Tim Longton senior won the
English National in 1949 and his son, Tim junior, won
it five times from 1965. So renowned was the latter that
the first programme of the BBC’s One Man and his Dog,
explaining the nature of sheepdog trialling, was filmed
at Rooten Brook Farm. The fourth generation Longton,
Michael, won the English National in 2004 at the young
age of 24.
The village of Quernmore has only a converted
barn or two, a row of new dwellings by Rowton Brook
and a residence called Temperance House, dated 1826.
The temperance movement was at that time becoming
more powerful. Lancaster’s Temperance Society was
formed in 1833 and at one time Lancaster had twelve
temperance hotels.
As you follow Rowton Brook
west, you may be increasingly
overcome by the nauseous stench
from the mushroom farms near
Nether Lodge. In 2002 thirty-three
illegal immigrants were found
working here and deported. The
mushroom farms are an anomalous
presence in the Quernmore valley,
for it is a rich agricultural area that
seems wasted on mushroom sheds.
Conder Mill Bridge is only
wide enough for a stream 2m across.
Something seems awry here. The
Langthwaite ridge to the west rises
100m above the Conder and is 4km
Above: Across Cragg Wood from
Baines Cragg.
Below: Baines Cragg.
from Clougha Pike. The valley seems far too broad and
deep for such a trickle. And indeed it is, for before the
Ice Age the Lune ran through this valley, until glacial
deposits blocked its path.
The Top 10 viewpoints in Loyne
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Clougha Pike
Great Knoutberry Hill
Wild Boar Fell
Orton Scar
Ingleborough
Combe Top, Middleton Fell
Caton Moor
Hornby Road, Roeburndale
Whinfell Beacon
Brownthwaite Pike
The engineers’ attempt to defy this process of
nature by laying a pipe through the Quernmore valley
to take water from the Lune to the Wyre was sadly
rebuffed by nature itself, when an explosion at the valve
house in Abbeystead in 1984 killed sixteen people.
The investigation found that the explosion was caused
by the ignition of methane but that “the likelihood of
a flammable atmosphere arising there had not been
envisaged” – which seems an oversight given the history
of coal mining in the area.
The Langthwaite ridge from Knots Wood to
Hazelrigg is formed from millstone grit overlain by
boulder clay and supports mixed farming and woodland.
It separates the coastal drumlin fields of Lancaster and
its surroundings from the glacial sands and clay drift
of Quernmore. As might be expected, communication
masts are prominent.
Walk 23: Ward’s Stone
Starting point: Near Little Cragg (546618).
There are three conditions for this walk: no closure of the access area for grouse shooting (this is allowed for up to 28 days
a year: ring 0845 100 3298 if you want to check), no dogs and (preferably) good visibility. With few features marked on the map,
I’ll give the OS grid reference for strategic points.
From Little Cragg Ward’s Stone can be seen 5.5km southeast on the horizon but a direct route would involve much scrambling
over heather and rocks. So set off in the opposite direction, west down the road, past Baines Cragg. After Bark Barn, climb a stile
on your left, walk south across the infant Conder on a permissive footpath and enter CRoW land (at 537613). Keep on the track.
After cairns on the right (at 541605), the track swings left and becomes less steep. With three cubic structures visible ahead, note
a small post just after a large rocky outcrop on the left (at 552596).
At a junction of tracks (at 560597), follow the sign pointing right. At the next side-track, not marked on OS maps (at about
562592), turn left, ignoring the sign pointing ahead. Initially the track heads direct to Ward’s Stone but it then curves left and then
right. As you approach the shooters’ hut (at about 585588), note Ward’s Stone to its right and imagine your route. Scramble up
behind the hut, aiming for a cone-shaped stone on the horizon, and proceed to Ward’s Stone.
At Ward’s Stone the panorama is revealed, with the Three Peaks, the Lakeland fells, the Lune estuary, and your starting
(and finishing) point. Ward’s Stone (560m) is sadistic: after battling to the stone, you find that the official top, just 1m higher (the
highest point of the Bowland Fells), is at a second trig point, visible 1km away. Climb the stone to get 1m above the first trig
point and settle for that.
Head west on the ridge path and after 2km (at 565588) turn right at the track you meet. After a few minutes, ignore the track
off to the right – you went that way earlier. Ignore the second track to the right, as you did earlier. The cubes, with enigmatic
plinths, come into view to the left. Pass below the cubes and reach the rocky outcrop with the little post. (If you miss the post,
just continue back the way you came.) Turn right here (at 552596) on a path that heads towards the Caton Moor wind turbines.
Small posts mark the way but they are difficult to see. Some kind souls are creating cairns.
The path continues towards the wind turbines and then curves left. A wall is seen 50m to your right (at 551608): the Conder
Head spring is just to the left. Keep the wall to your right until a stile is seen ahead. Climb the stile, turn right by Sweet Beck and
walk past Skelbow Barn to Little Cragg.
Short walk variation: The obvious short walk is to follow the long walk as far as the small post (at 552596) and then turn left and
follow the last part of the long walk. A shorter walk is possible along a path that runs east south of Cragg Wood to cross the beck
from the Conder Head spring and on to Sweet Beck.
Across Quernmore to Clougha
The River Conder runs through the fishery and
golf course of Forrest Hills, set up in 1996 and another
example of rural diversification, this time of the farm
of Banton House. It is now also a resource centre with
green credentials, part of the Bowland Sustainable
Tourism network, which (simplifying) is concerned with
attracting visitors to an area without spoiling it.
Below Forrest Hills the Conder crosses the Kit
Brow stepping stones, where, as for all Loyne’s becks,
the ‘trickle’ is not always so. Lancaster University holds
an annual race over the stepping stones, which one year
were far under water, and I became so as well when I
was washed away from the safety rope provided.
The Conder passes the small village of Ellel and
the larger one of Galgate. Galgate has the misfortune to
be bisected twice, by the A6 and the west coast main
line railway. Perhaps that serves it right, for having a
name proclaiming it to be the gate or road to Galloway.
The only building of note is the old mill, which is said
to be the first mechanical silk mill in England. It was
bought as a corn mill in 1792, converted to spin silk, and
operated until 1970. It now houses “the country’s largest
bathroom emporium” and various smaller units.
The marina on the Lancaster Canal is relatively
peaceful although the public moorings are busy on
summer weekends. Just south of here the canal begins
a branch to Glasson, completed in 1826 with six locks.
In the dry summer of 2006, the branch was closed
for periods because the water levels were too low –
which raises a question: where does canal water come
from? Lancaster Canal itself is supplied by Killington
Reservoir but for the Glasson branch most of its water is
taken from the River Conder, small as it is and as a result
even smaller than it should be.
The Conder runs slowly west, north of the canal,
passing Thurnham Mill, now the Mill Inn. The mill
operated using water from the canal, which is possible
only through being next to a lock. To the south is
Thurnham Hall, with an interesting history.
The usual pattern with the grand halls of Loyne is
that for centuries they provided a home for the family
at the apex of the local rural hierarchy; in the 18th or
19th century they may have been bought by a newlyrich industrialist; either way, the residents continued to
lead the gentrified country life until the middle of the
20th century when societal changes meant that the halls
had to be converted to some other use, such as offices,
a school or flats. Thurnham Hall followed this pattern,
with unhappy consequences.
Thurnham Hall was the manorial home from the
12th century and was bought by Robert Dalton in 1556.
The Daltons continued to buy land around Lancaster,
to become the largest landowner in the region. Dalton
Square and nearby streets in Lancaster are named after
members of the Dalton family. The Daltons were staunch
Catholics, as we saw with Aldcliffe Hall, and funded the
Glasson Canal
nearby Church of St Thomas and St Elizabeth, built in
1745. After the Daltons left in the mid 20th century, the
hall lapsed until it was restored in 1973, to be a classy
restaurant for a while.
It was then bought to form the centrepiece of a
timeshare operation, Thurnham Leisure Group, with
headquarters in Lancaster. Holiday courtyards and a
swimming pool were built around the hall. However,
amid rising complaints from customers, the Group
crashed in 2004 leaving a £5m debt. The managing
director, Fred Fogg, was given a two-year prison
sentence for conspiring to defraud finance companies.
Sunterra Europe, with a head office in Lancaster but part
of the US-based Sunterra company, acquired the hall
and other property, plus the irate customers, for £2m.
Sunterra Europe was put up for sale in 2006 and bought
by Diamond Resorts International for £350m. However,
the Diamond Resorts office on Caton Road seems
somewhat inactive (or empty: it is hard to tell without
peering through the darkened windows). Today it is an
unnerving experience to walk on the public footpath
amongst the possibly disgruntled holidaymakers of
Thurnham Hall Country Club. Perhaps the renowned
ghosts of Thurnham Hall are restless.
For its last kilometre the Conder is tidal, with the
nearby roads occasionally under water, especially the
one to Glasson, which was badly flooded in 2002. In the
tranquil meanders derelict craft fall and rise but seem
never to be resurrected. Above the flood level is the
Stork, a 17th century inn that has retained something of
its old character. By the viaduct for the old LancasterGlasson railway line is the Conder Green picnic site,
which is on the route of the 220km Lancashire Coastal
Way. The Conder Green salt marshes are not grazed and
as a result have a great variety of plants, including the
rare lax-flowered sea-lavender.
Lax-flowered sea-lavender
The Conder (three times) at the Stork, Conder Green
Glasson marina
The Lune from the Conder ... 229
The Lune from the Conder ...
E
ast of the Conder the Lune passes Glasson, which
is part port, part resort, but not much of either. On a
fine day, with a sea breeze gently fluttering the mastheads
in the marina, it makes a pleasant outing, although there
is not much to do or to see, apart from leisurely activity
about the boats. There is no beach or seaside promenade,
and only a few old-style catering establishments, with
two pubs.
A large barrier separates the Lune, and hence the
sea, from a dock that was completed in 1787 after the
Lancaster Port Commission resolved to build it for ships
unable to navigate the Lune to reach the new St George’s
Quay. Before then, the area was a marsh, with the farms
of Brows, Crook and Old Glasson to the south.
The dock did not flourish for long, against
competition from better docks at Preston and Fleetwood,
although the Glasson Group of companies is still an active
importer, especially of animal feedstuffs. Still standing
are the Custom House (which functioned from 1835 to
Glasson Watch House
1924) and the Watch House (built 1836), which with
typical Loyne immodesty is claimed to be the smallest
lighthouse in England. A nearby dry dock for ship repair
functioned from 1841 to 1968, when it was filled in to
become an area for light industry. The Port of Lancaster
Smoke House, winner of the 2007 North West Fine Food
Producer of the Year award, is on the West Quay.
A further barrier separates the dock from the large
marina on the Glasson branch of the Lancaster Canal.
Commercial traffic ended long ago but canal-based
tourism is now Glasson’s main occupation. This it
supplements with other unassuming activities: an annual
folk-music festival; the racing of radio-controlled laser
boats in the marina; a weekend gathering point for
bikers.
The railway, arriving late (1883) and departing early
(1930 for passengers, 1964 for freight), left little trace in
Glasson, apart from Railway Place, a group of cottages
that pre-date the railway. The line of the track now forms
part of the Lancashire Coastal Way, which continues over
the barrier separating dock and marina, through Glasson,
and up Tithe Barn Hill, which at a magnificent height of
20m provides a fine view, often with excellent sunsets,
across the estuary to Overton and Sunderland, with the
Lakeland hills beyond. There’s a 360º view-indicator
and five benches, all facing Heysham power station.
Overton, across the Lune, is an ancient village,
appearing as Oureton in the Domesday Book. Modern
building for commuters surrounds the old core of the
village, leaving few signs of the traditional activities of
shipbuilding and fishing. Even so, the aroma of the fields
and the sea remains. Farms are still active in and around
the village, and twice a day the tide laps on its shores.
A walk around Bazil Point, from where there used to
be a ferry to Glasson, involves stepping through tidal
debris but provides open views across the marshes and
the Lune estuary.
The most notable feature of Overton is St Helen’s
Church, which is said to be the oldest church in
Lancashire. The church itself is more reticent, claiming
only, on a notice board inside, that the west wall is
“11th century or earlier” and that other parts, such as
the doorway arches, are “of about 1140”. Whatever its
age, it must have been one of the most isolated of early
churches. In outward appearance, the church is rather
colourless, with uninspired windows. Inside, however,
the small church is transformed, with the windows now
enlivened. The arrangement is novel, with a gallery to
the west, the pulpit by the south wall, and
the 1830 extension on the north side having
no view of the altar to the east.
South of Overton, the tidal Lades
Marsh used to be the outlet for the low-lying
expanse between Heysham and the HeatonColloway ridge. Once known as Little
Fylde, it was, like big Fylde, a waterlogged
wasteland. A remnant can be seen at
Heysham Moss, a reserve managed by the
Wildlife Trust. The reserve is home to many
breeding and wintering birds. The centre
of Heysham Moss is relatively pristine,
with characteristic bog plants (such as bog
myrtle and round-leaved sundew), mosses
and liverworts, plus indigenous electricity
pylons.
Today, the whole area outside
Heysham Moss is a mosaic of green fields
lined with ditches and gutters that, after
intensively staring at, I conclude no longer
flow anywhere, let alone to Lades Marsh.
Therefore, according to my self-imposed rule on page
9 (“if rain falling on an area makes its way to the Lune
estuary then the area is within my scope”), I should
ignore the old Little Fylde. But if enough rain fell, then I
suspect the flood would flow to Lades Marsh.
Above: St Helen’s Church, Overton.
Below: Sunderland across Lades Marsh from
Overton.
The Top 10 churches in Loyne
(for the nonreligious)
1. St Helen’s, Overton
2. St John the Baptist, Tunstall
3. St Mary’s, Lancaster Priory
4. St Mary the Virgin, Kirkby Lonsdale
5. St Andrew’s, Sedbergh
6. St Wilfrid’s, Halton
7. St Margaret’s, Hornby
8. St Wilfrid’s, Melling
9. St Mary’s, Ingleton
10. St Andrew’s, Dent
CHAPTER 15:
Into Morecambe Bay
232 Chapter 15: Into Morecambe Bay
Overton
Glasson
Morecambe Bay
Sunderland
Riv
er
•S
•
4
lk 2
wa
L u ne
* Cockersand Abbey
Cockerham
Pilling
Sands
• Forton
Ri
er
C
• Potters Brook
•
Broad F
leet
v
Pilling
oc
ker
•
• Winmarleigh
Pilling
l
oo
gy P
Rid
Wa
ter
Trashy Hill ▲
(13m)
0
M6
Point of Lune
•
Scale: 1 cm to 1 km
• Nateby
5 kilometres
T
The Lune from the Conder
(continued) ...
he road south from Overton across Lades Marsh
leads to Sunderland, the end of the west bank of
the Lune. Unlike Overton, Sunderland has had
no new building for nearly a century. It looks like the
set for a film based in a 19th century fishing village, as
indeed it became in 2006 when used to film The Ruby
in the Smoke. With the tidal waters covering the road,
it is detached, both physically and mentally, from the
modern world.
It consists of two terraces, First Terrace and Second
Terrace, reasonably enough, and, a little apart, the
elegantly verandahed Old Hall, which bears a date of
1683. The hall became the home of Robert Lawson, a
Quaker merchant who built warehouses and workshops
at Sunderland for the complete building and fitting out of
ships. The houses all have their backs to the prevailing
westerly winds and hence have views across the estuary
to the masts of Glasson Dock and the Bowland Fells
beyond. There is even a glimpse of our old friend,
Ingleborough.
The terraced cottages are mainly 18th century, some
converted from the old warehouses. They have charm but
are not pretty as this is too tough a place for adornment.
A few cottages are named after the ‘cotton tree’, once
a feature of Sunderland but a victim of a gale in 1998,
after surviving for nearly 300 years. The tree was in fact
a female native black poplar, of which there are only two
Two pages before: The road from Sunderland to
Overton.
Below: Second Terrace, from First Terrace.
in Lancashire (one is at Freeman’s Wood by Aldcliffe
Marsh). Or perhaps three, because there are apparently
shoots from the roots of the old Sunderland tree.
In front of the cottages a dozen boats rest at anchor
or doze on the mud, depending on the state of the tide. A
couple of them look like active fishing boats, a remnant
of the traditional occupation of Sunderland residents.
The heyday (such as it was, for Sunderland can never
have been much larger than it is now) was the period
from 1680, when it was recognised as a ‘legal quay’,
which meant that ships were allowed to unload goods
there, until about 1750, when St George’s Quay became
active. During that period, many ships avoided the
difficult journey up the Lune by having goods taken
ashore at Sunderland for transport across land or by
ferryboat to Lancaster. There was also a good trade in
towing or guiding boats up the estuary to Lancaster
but Sunderland’s business evaporated as fast as it had
begun, with the development of better docking facilities
in Lancaster, Fleetwood and especially Glasson.
After the demise of the port, Sunderland had an even
shorter-lived period of activity as a bathing resort. In the
early 19th century people became increasingly attracted
to sea bathing, although at first this was, for the sake
of propriety, not in the sea but in sea water within bath
houses. Sunderland was one of the first places to have
a bath house, with sea water being pumped into baths
at what was then the Ship Inn. By the 1830s, however,
the difficulties of access compared to Morecambe and
Heysham led Sunderland to become the quiet backwater
that it is today.
The most remarked upon feature of Sunderland
nowadays is that it is one of only two places in England
(the other being Lindisfarne) that is cut off twice a day
by the tide. However, this is only the case if lack of
vehicular access constitutes being cut off: Sunderland
can always be reached on foot from the west. It would
seem easy to provide a road on the landward side of
the flood embankment but no doubt the residents of
Sunderland want no more than the few visitors prepared
to make a committed effort to get there.
The best way to visit Sunderland, where there is not
really much space to park a car anyway, is to park at or
cycle to Potts Corner on the Morecambe Bay shore and
Pebbles and old groynes (to reduce erosion) at Sunderland Point
Hang glider over Sunderland
then walk south along the coast. There are magnificent
views across the bay, with the Fylde coast to Fleetwood
to the south, the south Lakes coast to the Isle of Walney
to the north, and on the horizon the glinting blades of the
offshore wind turbines.
The mud and sea stretch for miles, glittering in the
sunlight and providing spectacular sunsets. There is the
odd abandoned craft and the perhaps odder individual
who feels confident enough about the tides and the mud
to venture far off shore but it is the enormous numbers
of wading birds that catch the eye. Morecambe Bay is
said to be the most important estuary in England for
its seabird and waterfowl populations, especially for
over-wintering birds – greylag geese, mallard, redbreasted merganser, pink-footed geese, pintail, pochard,
shelduck, shoveler, wigeon, and so on. Over 160 species
have been recorded. They are attracted, of course, by the
food in the mud, which may look unappetising to us but
contains, for example, about 5000 Baltic tellins, which
are small shellfish, per square metre (I have taken the
experts’ word for this).
If you keep your eyes to the west, as you should, you
will miss Sambo’s Grave, which is to be recommended.
This is apparently a tourist attraction but it is a tawdry
and maudlin site, a poignant but pathetic memorial
to our own inglorious past as much as to Sambo, a
slave who died at Sunderland in 1736: “here lies poor
Sambo: a faithful Negro”, isolated as a heathen unfit for
consecrated ground.
If you must look landward, look instead for the
Belted Beauty moth. This endangered moth has colonies
at only three sites in England and Wales and, until the
colony at Sunderland was confirmed in 2004, it was
thought to live only on coastal sand dunes. Here its
habitat is salt marsh, with sea rush and autumn hawkbit.
The males fly at night, as moths tend to do, and rest
during the day; the poor females are wingless.
Searching for moths in salt marsh is not to everyone’s
taste but the moths’ existence here is an indication
of the special nature of this vulnerable promontory.
If you continue the walk south to Sunderland Point
(there is no public footpath but I don’t think anyone
will object), you’ll see that the fields, some 2m above
beach level, are virtually unprotected and appear to be
crumbling fast under the western gales.
From the end of the promontory, we can see across to
the Plover Scar lighthouse and may fear that our journey
down the Lune and its tributaries has come to an end. But
if the beginning of a river is always a matter of debate,
so is its end. At high tide the Lune is 1km wide from
Sunderland Point and disappears into the wide expanses
of Morecambe Bay, but at low tide the Lune can be
considered to continue for a further 7km or so between
Cockerham Sands and Middleton Sands before finally
joining the waters of Morecambe Bay at the Point of
Lune. According to the Environment Agency by-laws,
the Lune estuary lies landward of a line from Knott End
jetty to Heysham No. 2 buoy and thence to Heysham
lighthouse. For the sake of completeness, then, we will
take the Point of Lune as the end of our story, which will
enable us to include the gentle tributaries of the River
Cocker and Broad Fleet.
Plover Scar lighthouse
The River Cocker
T
he Cocker is barely large enough to be a river but is
not sprightly enough to be a beck. It arises north of
Cocker Clough Wood on a ridge between the Conder and
the Wyre, carefully avoiding both. It runs past Hampson
Green, under the M6 and railway line, past Bay Horse,
and is joined by Potters Brook just before crossing the
Lancaster Canal.
Potters Brook flows from Forton, known to many
through the distinctive Forton (recently renamed
Lancaster) Service Station, with its tower no longer a
restaurant-cum-viewpoint. For travellers from the south
the tower marks a gateway to the dramatic northern
landscapes. Forton has long been on travellers’ routes:
before the railway and canal, the Roman road from
Lancaster passed here, probably by Forton Hall Farm
and Windy Arbour. Today, Forton consists mainly of new
bungalows, plus the 1707 United Reformed (formerly
Independent) Church, with bright yellow door to enable
it to be located in the overgrown churchyard.
The Cocker swings north towards Ellel Grange.
This Italianate villa, as it’s always described, was built
in 1859 for William Preston, who became High Sheriff
of Lancashire in 1865. It is said to be modelled on Queen
Victoria’s Osborne House (completed in 1851), but then
so are innumerable contemporary British villas. The
grange is now the international headquarters and Special
Ministries Unit of the Ellel Ministries.
The Cocker continues south past Cockerham,
flowing under Cocker House Bridge, where there is
an old boundary stone. Cockerham is an old village,
appearing in the Domesday Book as Cocreham. Its
church, thought to have been founded in the 11th century
and rebuilt in the 17th century, 1814 and 1911, is a plain,
sturdy structure standing apart from the village.
At the north end of Cockerham is the vicarage built
in 1843 for the Rev. Dodson, whom we met in Littledale.
The earnestness we saw there is seen also in his
determination to rid Cockerham of all sinful activities,
such as cock fighting, hare coursing, horse racing and
even bowling. After the Rev. Dodson left, a public house
was built in 1871 without, it seems, unduly disturbing
the peace of the village. Apart from the pub, the only
other establishments in Cockerham today seem to be a
beauty salon and a funeral directors. I’m not sure if the
Rev. Dodson would approve of the implicit philosophy
of life.
The Cocker dawdles through flat land drained by
many ditches in Winmarleigh Moss. This is Lancashire’s
The River Cocker 237
Two oddities at Forton: (left) a semi-Roman milestone - it reads “Garstang III¾ miles”
and (right) six hexahedrons by the canal near Nateby Hall Farm
largest remaining uncultivated peat mossland,
supporting rare insect species such as the large heath
butterfly and bog bush cricket. Winmarleigh itself is
a scattered village. Winmarleigh Hall was built on the
site of Old Hall in 1871 for John Wilson-Patten, MP
for Lancashire North for 42 years. He became Baron
Winmarleigh, the first and last, as he outlived his two
sons and grandson. The hall is now owned by NST Travel
Group, which claims to be “Europe’s largest educational
and group travel company”. Residential visitors can
tackle a variety of challenging activities set out in the
grounds of the hall.
Lancaster Canal near Winmarleigh
The Ellel Ministries make the name of Ellel known to
people throughout the world but few of those people are
aware that the name refers to a tiny village near Lancaster.
The story of the Ellel Ministries begins in 1970 when Peter
Horrobin was repairing a sports car and – here I must quote
from their website so that you don’t think me lacking in
due seriousness – “God spoke to him about how he could
straighten the chassis and rebuild the car, but much more
importantly, God could rebuild broken lives.” And if He
whispered ‘Ellel’ that was fortunate because apparently in
old English it means ‘all hail’.
When Ellel Grange came up for sale in 1985 Horrobin
raised nearly £0.5m from supporters to convert the grange
into a ministry. The Ellel Ministries are now an international
brand with branches in Australia, Canada, Germany, India,
Norway, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.
What do the Ellel Ministries do? This may be as
treacherous as the sands of Morecambe Bay, but I will
venture in. The mission is “to proclaim the Kingdom of
God by preaching the good news, healing the brokenhearted and setting the captives free.” In practice, this
means “discipleship, healing and deliverance training”.
The theology, however, is controversial. According
to others, the Ellel Ministries have “extreme doctrinal
positions on deliverance and demonology” that “are void of
biblical foundations”. A review of Horrobin’s book Healing
through Deliverance concluded that it argued that “those
who did not believe that Christians can be demonized …
are themselves demonized.” Verily, I should steer clear, at
least until my broken heart needs healing.
Beyond Cocker Bridge, the Cocker runs between
sea defence embankments built in 1981. In 1969 the
only colony of natterjack toads in Lancashire had been
found on Cockerham Moss. Natterjack toads are the
rarest of six British amphibians and are protected by
law. The site was washed over by the highest tides but
not after the wall was built. Perhaps coincidentally, the
colony became extinct after 1981. The Herpetological
Conservation Trust is now trying to restore the habitat
and reintroduce the natterjack toad.
Part of Cockerham Moss was enclosed only after
draining in the 19th century. The few buildings are
modern and of brick. The terrain is flat and featureless,
given over to sheep and cattle, with some arable farming
if dry enough.
Similarly, north of the Cocker Channel, lies the
flat drained land of Thurnham Moss. At the seaward
extremity of this bleak landscape are the remains of
Cockersand Abbey. The meagre remains today do
not indicate the extent and importance of the abbey.
Originally, the abbey stood up to where the sea wall is
now. Today, there are just a few stones scattered about
with only the chapter house still standing, partly because
it was used as a burial place after being adopted by the
Daltons. The red sandstone masonry of the old abbey
was re-used in nearby farm buildings and in the sea wall,
a somewhat ironic use of the stones since the abbots
lived in fear of being submerged by the sea.
Left: Ellel Grange.
The River Cocker 239
The remains of Cockersand Abbey
Walk 24: Glasson, Cockersand Abbey and Cockerham
Map: 296 (please read the general note about the walks in the Introduction).
Starting point: Near Glasson marina (446561).
This is a walk best done on a grey, rainy day with a strong westerly wind and a high tide – to better get into the spirit of the
place. (Only joking.)
Walk southwest through Glasson to Tithe Barn Hill, and then turn right along Marsh Lane to Crook Farm. Follow the sea
wall south to the Abbey Lighthouse Cottage, Plover Hill (7m high) and Cockersand Abbey, to which make a short detour. Across
the shimmering waters of Morecambe Bay, Fleetwood and the Isle of Walney may be seen.
Continue past Bank Houses and the Cockerham Sands caravan park, and along the 1km embankment. Turn right towards the
Patty’s Farm holiday cottages, before which you cut southeast through the Black Knights Parachute Centre, which may be busy
with planes and parachutists (but not if you’ve chosen a windy day). Across the fields, turn left on the A588 for 200m, and then
walk to St Michael’s Church. From the church take the path northeast to the Main Street of Cockerham.
Walk north through Cockerham and take the path northeast to Batty Hill. Continue north along a muddy track and then walk
northeast to Cock Hall Farm (the high point of the walk, at 27m). Turn northwest past Thurnham Church and walk through the
Thurnham Hall Country Club and across a field to Bailey Bridge. Cross the bridge and stroll along the canal towpath back to
Glasson.
Short walk variation: Follow the long walk past Bank Houses to the end of the embankment and then turn left instead of right.
Walk north either past the fishery of Thursland Hill or through Norbreck Farm, renowned for its pedigree Belgian Blue cattle.
Either way you will eventually reach Moss Lane. Continue due north, either across fields or on a quiet lane to the east, to cross
the canal and then turn left to the marina.
Cockersand Abbey was established as a monastic cell
in the 12th century by Hugh the Hermit, as he would need
to have been to choose this bleak, exposed, otherwise
godforsaken spot, cut off from the mainland by Thurnham
Moss. By 1190 this St Mary’s of the Marsh had become a
Premonstratensian abbey.
The abbey became very rich during the 13th century,
through being granted much land in the northwest of
England. At that time people were desperate to go to
heaven and believed that a prayer on their behalf from
monks would help. A gift to the abbey proved your piety.
The monk’s life was not entirely one of cloistered
contemplation. According to British History Online: in
1316, the abbey suffered badly from Scottish raids; in 1327,
a canon was pardoned for the death of a brother; in 1347,
the abbot and four canons were accused of using violence;
in 1363, the abbey was ravaged by plague; in 1378, the
king was begged for special compensation because “each
day they are in danger of being drowned and destroyed
by the sea”; in 1402, there was fear of violence from
parties with whom they were in litigation; in 1488, two
apostate canons were excommunicated, the brethren were
forbidden to reveal the secrets of the order, and two other
canons were accused of breaking their vow of chastity; in
1497, the canons were forbidden to “exchange opprobrious
charges” and to draw knives upon one other; in 1500,
various diseases were attributed to “inordinate potations”
and there were minor disorders, such as disobedience to the
abbot, lingering in bed and neglecting services on pretext
of illness.
It all gives new meaning to the Dissolution of the
Monasteries. At that time (1539) Cockersand was the
third richest abbey in Lancashire. Its annual income was
estimated at £157, revised (to no avail) to £282 after it was
decreed that monasteries with an income less than £200
would be taken over by the king. Its lands, valued at £798,
were bought by John Kechyn of Hatfield in 1544 and then
passed to Robert Dalton of Thurnham Hall.
Beyond the sea wall and embankment the Cocker
disappears into the mudflats of the Lune estuary and
Morecambe Bay, forming part of the Wyre and Lune
Sanctuary Nature Reserve, established as a national
wildfowl refuge in 1963. This affords protection for
internationally important numbers of wintering knot,
grey plover, oystercatcher, pink-footed geese and
turnstone. It also provides an important staging post for
birds such as sanderling. The embankment runs 8km
west, past the village of Pilling, and is crossed through
flood gates by Wrampool Brook and Broad Fleet.
Broad Fleet
B
road Fleet slides into the Lune estuary from Pilling
Moss, via its tributaries of Pilling Water from
Nateby and Ridgy Pool from Eagland Hill. In the Lake
District a ‘water’ is a lake; Pilling Water is not a lake
but it flows little faster than one. And Ridgy Pool flows
like a pool.
Nateby and Eagland Hill are 10m above sea level
and some 10km from the Lune. Obviously, the region is
flat. There are long, wide views over large, rectangular
fields for cows, sheep and intensive crop production.
Given the monotonous terrain perhaps I should argue
that Broad Fleet is not really a tributary of the Lune and
not bother with this section. However, there is nowhere
that some expert in something doesn’t find engrossing.
Unfortunately for the visitor, the main interest here
is underground, where recent studies have revealed
unexpected insights into the past, present and possibly
future of Pilling Moss.
The story begins with the Ice Age, when boulder clay
was dumped over the Fylde region, leaving occasional
small drumlins. By 4000 BC, the region had become a
forest, as shown by the large number of ‘moss stocks’,
that is, old tree trunks uncovered in the fields and dated
to that period. The roots were upright and the trunks had
been hacked off, showing that the trees were felled and
The rather serious Nateby church
Broad Fleet 241
that there was a large local community to carry out this
arduous work.
This is supported by extensive finds of Neolithic
implements and the discovery of ancient earthworks
around Nateby. Today, the gentle undulations in the
fields appear unremarkable but aerial photographs reveal
various regular shapes, such as a 200m-diameter henge
dated to about 2500 BC. Many Bronze Age remains have
been found north of Nateby.
With the forest removed, the region became
heathland but after the climate became damper in about
1400 BC it slowly turned into a bog, a process thought
to have been complete by 800 BC. Old tracks, formed
by laying down tree trunks to cross the bog, have been
dated to that time. Over the centuries, layers of peat were
formed, the first 1m or so being of rough peat, from the
heathland vegetation, and then up to 4m of softer peat,
mainly from sphagnum moss. The extent of the bog can
be judged by the place names on today’s map: I counted
eight Moss Sides and three Moss Edges surrounding an
area of about 25 sq km.
During the investigations of the Nateby earthworks
a Roman road (or by-road) was discovered. It has been
traced to join the Roman road that we’ve followed
south from Lancaster and is believed to have continued
west, south of Pilling Moss, to meet a port on the River
Wyre. In the following centuries, habitation was limited
to the drumlins raised a metre or two above the bog.
Many farmsteads were drolly given a name with ‘hill’
in it. Unsurprisingly, there are few old buildings of
architectural merit. For example, the village of Nateby,
mainly a row of semi-detached houses today, was little
more than a church a century ago. The new buildings in
the region are mostly of red brick.
Pilling, however, is an old village, being owned by
Cockersand Abbey in the 12th century and passing to the
The weather-vane at Island House
(exaggerating the steepness of the island a little)
Dalton family in the 16th century. It was very isolated,
having the sea to the north and Pilling Moss to the
south. There are only two buildings that interrupt the flat
horizons: Damside mill and the church steeple.
The windmill was built in 1808 to a height of
22m, the tallest in Fylde. By the 1940s it had become
derelict but, rather miraculously, it has been restored
as a residence, complete with a traditional ‘boat top’,
installed in 2007. It puts into perspective a proposal for
two 125m wind turbines at Eagland Hill, which was
rejected in 2008.
The steeple belongs to the St John the Baptist
Church built in 1887 by Paley and Austin again. Here,
they not only tackled the novelty (for Loyne) of a steeple
but enlivened it by using different coloured stones, such
as pink ones for the parapet. The church replaced one
that still stands in the field behind, with a date of 1717
over the door and a sundial bearing the name of George
Pilling from Lane Ends
Damside mill, Pilling
Holden, who in Pilling literature is said to have “devised
the modern tide tables”.
On this journey I have learned to be wary of simply
repeating such claims. The facts are far from simple.
Holden’s Liverpool Tide Tables, said to be the first
high-quality such tables, were published for many years
from 1770. There were three George Holdens involved.
George I (1723-1793) was vicar of Pilling Church from
1758 to 1767, after which he moved to Tatham, to become
curate there until he died. George II (1757-1820) lived
in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, where he was a schoolmaster,
from 1783. He succeeded George I to the Tatham curacy
but still lived in Horton. George III (1783-1865) was
the curate at Maghull near Liverpool from 1811. I am
relieved that George III had no children.
The publication of the tide tables was passed on as a
lucrative family side-line. Notwithstanding the fact that
George I lived in the Pilling parsonage right beside the
tidal floodgates, Pilling’s pride in its involvement seems
exaggerated, for three reasons. First, the original tide
tables were published by brothers, George I and Richard
(1718-1775). Richard was a teacher in Liverpool,
specialising in mathematics and navigation. He seems
the more likely to have had the necessary skills to prepare
the tide tables. Secondly, the Holdens’ closely-guarded
‘secret method’ was checked against the meticulous data
gathered by William Hutchinson, the Liverpool dock
master. This data was never returned and I can find no
details of the ‘secret method’. Hutchinson himself had
theories about lunar effects on tides and the extent to
which the Holdens were dependent upon him is unclear.
Thirdly, none of the tide tables were produced while
George I was actually in Pilling: the Georges beavered
away on the tables while in Tatham, Horton and Maghull.
(I bet you wish now that I had just repeated the claim.)
Today, Pilling Moss is farming land, crisscrossed by
many ditches. It was drained in the 19th century, after
which it was possible to lay a railway line across it in
1870. The single-line track ran, rather informally, from
Garstang to Pilling and, later, Knott End. The ‘Pilling
Pig’, named from the sound of the engine or whistle,
became a familiar feature, and today a model of it stands
at Fold House as one of the few things for tourists to
look at. The line closed for passengers in 1930 and for
freight in the 1950s.
Once the bog had been drained, the peat began to
shrink and much of it was cut for fuel, an activity that
ended in the 1960s. The farmland is now lower (leaving
some lanes perched 1m or more above it), the rich soil is
disappearing, and, who knows, the area is ready for its
second flooding.
This is precisely what the Pilling Embankment
built in 1981 is intended to prevent. In the meantime,
the embankment provides (from the section open to the
public between Lane Ends and Fluke Hall) a view of
Broad Fleet seeping into Morecambe Bay, and of the
Lake District hills behind Heysham Power Station and,
suitably enough, of where we began, the Howgills, far
behind the Ashton Memorial. And to show that I am not
alone in considering this still to be within Loyne, the last
house as the road peters out beyond Fluke Hall is called
Lune View Cottage.
Here’s a fascinating fact that I’ve kept up my
sleeve in order to finish this flat Fylde section with a
flourish: when it’s in the mood, the River Lune can bring
700,000,000,000 litres of water into Morecambe Bay in
one day. We now know where they all come from.
Reflections from the Point of Lune 243
Broad Fleet entering Morecambe Bay
Reflections from the Point of Lune
A
nd so, at the Point of Lune, the waters of the Lune
and all its tributaries finally merge into Morecambe
Bay and the Irish Sea. The final sentence of Return to the
Lune Valley (2002) concludes that a tour down the Lune
valley is “an interesting journey and a pleasant one”.
‘Pleasant’ is perhaps as positive as one can be about the
Lune valley itself but it is possible to support a claim
that the wider area within the Lune watershed is the most
varied of any river in England.
Natural England has produced an analysis of
England in terms of 159 ‘National Character Areas’,
that is, areas that are “distinctive with a unique ‘sense of
place’”. The Loyne region includes parts of ten of these
National Character Areas. No other English river of the
size of the Lune and its tributaries, if any at all, passes
through so many Character Areas. In the following
review of our journey, the Character Areas are indicated
in italics.
The River Lune rises in the Howgills, which are
composed of ancient sedimentary rocks that have been
eroded into steep, rounded, grassy hills, incised by swiftflowing becks and grazed by sheep, but largely devoid of
people. As the Lune swings west, on its northern side are
the Orton Fells, composed of limestone. Below dramatic
limestone pavements, there is fertile soil supporting
improved pasture.
At Tebay, the Lune turns south and is joined by
becks from the western Howgills and, from the west,
from the Birkbeck and Shap Fells, part of the Cumbria
High Fells. Below Sedbergh, the Lune forms the western
boundary of the Yorkshire Dales Character Area, which
is not the same as the National Park. From the Yorkshire
Dales the major tributaries of the Rawthey, Dee, Greta
and Wenning flow. This part of the Yorkshire Dales
is mainly of limestone, overlain with sandstone and
siltstones, capped by millstone grit on the highest tops. It
includes some of the best limestone scenery in England,
with impressive pavements, gorges, potholes and cave
systems.
As the Lune continues south of Sedbergh, its western
watershed is much closer than that to the east. The rolling
semi-improved, upland pastures from Firbank Fell down
to Kirkby Lonsdale form part of the South Cumbria
Low Fells, which stretch west towards Windermere and
Coniston. From Kirkby Lonsdale the west bank of the
Lune forms the eastern fringe of the Morecambe Bay
Limestones Character Area, which extends to Kendal
and Ulverston.
To the east of the Lune south of Kirkby Lonsdale
is the Bowland Fringe, an area of lush pasture, hay
meadows, woodlands, marshes and becks, in which there
are many isolated stone farmsteads and small villages.
The pace of change is slow and many prehistoric features
survive, including traces of Roman roads. The Lune and
its tributaries are notable for the number of medieval and
later halls and manor houses, later adapted for a variety
of contemporary uses.
As the Lune flows on in its widening floodplain,
it is joined by becks from the Bowland Fells, an area
of millstone grit forming a wild, windswept, upland
plateau of bog and heath. Just north of Lancaster, the
Lune becomes tidal and enters the Morecambe Coast
and Lune Estuary Character Area. Here the low-lying
land is covered with glacial and alluvial deposits and
was once an area of fens, marshes and bogs. Today, it has
been largely drained to provide pasture but there are still
extensive areas of inter-tidal marshes. Finally, joining the
Lune estuary, are rivers and drainage channels from the
flat lands of the northern Fylde, part of the Lancashire
and Amounderness Plain.
From this great variety of landscape types derives
a range of human activities, although the Lune and
its tributaries remain relatively undeveloped. It also
provides such varied scenery and specific habitats for
wildlife that much of the area has been recognised
nationally and internationally, through designations as
parts of National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural
Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Most
of the region is farmed but even the areas that seem
most like wilderness require a delicate balance between
conservation and development, between the past and the
future.
Even within such an apparently timeless region as
Loyne, the threat of the future looms. On many mornings
I set off to investigate a part of Loyne without a cloud
in the sky. As the day progressed and the boots became
muddier and the legs became wearier, so the sky often
became hazier. But this was usually not a natural haze.
It was caused by the vapour trails of the jets crossing
the Loyne skies. The Loyne is on a busy flight path:
often I could count a dozen or more jets in the sky at
one moment.
As I wander on the green hills and among the grey
villages of Loyne, many thousand people a day cross
the skies above me. Clearly, I am misguided. I am
envious of people who have acquired a sufficiently deep
appreciation of their local surroundings and can, in a
week or two, similarly appreciate wherever they are off
to. Perhaps I should join them, but I suspect that I will
look forward most to seeing those green hills and grey
villages out of the jet’s windows as I return.
The last view of the Lune, at high tide from the embankment beyond Fluke Hall,
with the Bowland Fells in the distance.
Bibliography and References 245
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Champness, John (1993), Lancaster Castle: a Brief History, Preston: Lancashire County Books.
Cockcroft, Barry (1975), The Dale that Died, London: Dent.
Copeland, B.M. (1981), Whittington: the Story of a Country Estate, Leeds: W.S. Maney & Son Ltd.
Cunliffe, Hugh (2004), The Story of Sunderland Point.
Dalziel, Nigel and Dalziel, Phillip (2001), Britain in Old Photographs: Kirkby Lonsdale & District, Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd.
Denbigh, Paul (1996), Views around Ingleton, Ingleton and District Tradespeople’s Association.
Dugdale, Graham (2006), Curious Lancashire Walks, Lancaster: Palatine Books.
Elder, Melinda (1992), The Slave Trade and the Economic Development of 18th Century Lancaster, Keele: Keele University Press.
Garnett, Emmeline and Ogden, Bert (1997), Illustrated Wray Walk, Lancaster: Pagefast Ltd.
Gibson, Leslie Irving (1977), Lancashire Castles and Towers, Skipton: Dalesman Books.
Gooderson, Philip (1995), Lord Linoleum: Lord Ashton, Lancaster and the Rise of the British Oilcloth and Linoleum Industry,
Keele: Keele University Press.
Gray, Thomas (1769), A Guide to the Lakes, in Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire, Kendal: Pennington.
Halton Rectory (1900), Annals of the Parish of Halton.
Harding, Mike (1988), Walking the Dales, London: Michael Joseph.
Hayes, Gareth (2004), Odd Corners around the Howgills, Kirkby Stephen: Hayloft.
Hayhurst, John (1995), Glasson Dock - the survival of a village, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies.
Hindle, Brian Paul (1984), Roads and Trackways of the Lake District, Ashbourne: Moorland Publishing.
Hindle, David and Wilson, John (2005), Birdwatching Walks in Bowland, Lancaster: Palatine Books.
Hudson, Phil (1998), Coal Mining in Lunesdale, Settle: Hudson History.
Hudson, Phil (2000), Take a Closer Look at Wenningdale Mills, Settle: Hudson History.
Humphries, Muriel (1985), A History of the Ingleton Waterfalls Walk, Ingleton Scenery Company.
Hutton, Rev. John (1780), A Tour to the Caves, in the Environs of Ingleborough and Settle, in the West-Riding of Yorkshire. With
some Philosophical Conjectures on the Deluge, Remarks on the Origin of Fountains, and Observations on the Ascent and
Descent of Vapours, occasioned by Facts peculiar to the Places visited, Kendal: Pennington.
Johnson, David (2008), Ingleborough: Landscape and History, Lancaster: Carnegie Publishing.
Johnson, Lou, ed. (2005), Walking Britain (on-line guide).
Johnson, Thos (1872), A Pictorial Handbook to the Valley of the Lune and Gossiping Guide to Morecambe and District.
Jones, Clement (1948), A Tour in Westmorland, Kendal: Titus Wilson & Son.
Kenyon, David (2008), Wray and District Remembered.
Lancashire County Council (2006), Lancaster: Historic Town Assessment Report, Preston, Lancashire County Council.
Lancaster Group of the Ramblers’ Association (2005), Walks in the Lune Valley.
Lord, A.A. (1983), Wandering in Bowland, Kendal: Westmorland Gazette.
Marshall, Brian (2001), Cockersand Abbey, Blackpool: Landy.
Mason, Sara (1994), The Church and Parish of Tunstall.
Mitchell, W.R. (2004), Bowland and Pendle Hill, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd.
Mitchell, W.R. (2005), Around Morecambe Bay, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd.
These are the last pages of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self
Moorhouse, Sydney (1976), Twenty Miles around Morecambe Bay, Morecambe: Trelawney Press.
Morton, H.V. (1927), In Search of England, London: Methuen.
Pearson, Alexander (1930), The Annals of Kirkby Lonsdale and Lunesdale Today, Kendal: Titus Wilson & Son.
Penney, Stephen (1983), Lancaster in Old Picture Postcards, Zaltbommel: European Library.
Raistrick, Arthur, Forder, John and Forder, Eliza (1985), Open Fell Hidden Dale, Kendal: Frank Peters.
Roskell, Ruth Z. (2005), Glimpses of Glasson Dock and Vicinity, Blackpool: Landy.
Routledge, George (1854), A Pictorial History of the County of Lancaster.
Salisbury, John (2004), Nateby and Pilling Moss: the Pre-Historic Legacy, Pilling: Sue White.
Sellers, Gladys (1986), The Yorkshire Dales: a Walker’s Guide to the National Park, Milnthorpe: Cicerone Press.
Sharp, Jack (1989), New Walks in the Yorkshire Dales, London: Robert Hale.
Shotter, David and White, Andrew (1995), The Romans in Lunesdale, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies.
Slater, David et al (1989), The Complete Guide to the Lancaster Canal, Lancaster Canal Trust.
Speight, Harry (1895), Craven and the North West Yorkshire Highlands, London: Elliot Stock.
Stansfield, Andy (2006), The Forest of Bowland and Pendle Hill, Tiverton: Halsgrove.
Swain, Robert (1992), Walking down the Lune, Milnthorpe: Cicerone Press.
Trott, Freda (1991), Sedbergh, Sedbergh: T.W. Douglas & Son.
Trott, Stan and Trott, Freda (2002), Return to the Lune Valley, Kendal: Stramongate Press.
Wainwright, Alfred (1970), Walks in Limestone Country, Kendal: Westmorland Gazette.
Wainwright, Alfred (1972), Walks on the Howgill Fells, Kendal: Westmorland Gazette.
Wainwright, Alfred (1974), The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, Kendal: Westmorland Gazette.
Wainwright, Martin, ed. (2005), A Lifetime of Mountains: the Best of A. Harry Griffin’s Country Diary, London: Aurum Press Ltd.
Wellburn, Alan R. (1997), Leck, Cowan Bridge and the Brontës.
White, Andrew (1990), Lancaster: a Pictorial History, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd.
White, Andrew, ed. (1993), A History of Lancaster, Keele: Ryburn Publishing.
White, Andrew (2004), Life in Georgian Lancaster, Lancaster: Carnegie Publishing.
Wildman, Dorothy (2004), Caton as it was.
Williamson, Peter (2001), From Source to Sea: a Brief History of the Lune Valley.
Wilson, Stephen (1992), Geology of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Skipton: Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee.
Wilson, Sue, ed. (2002), Aspects of Lancaster, Barnsley: Wharncliffe Books.
Winstanley, Michael, ed. (2000), Rural Industries of the Lune Valley, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies.
Contact Details for Further Information 247
The entries under each heading are in the order they would be met on our journey through Loyne.
Place
Name
Telephone
Web Address
Cafés
Newbiggin-on-Lune
Dent
Kirkby Lonsdale
Ingleton
Bentham
Wray
Lancaster
Galgate
Conder Green
Glasson
Lune Spring Garden Centre
015396 23318
Dent Crafts Centre
“
25400 http://www.dentdale.com/craftcentre.com
Meadowside Café “
25329 http://www.dentdale.com/meadowside.htm
Stone Close Tea Room “
25231 http://www.dentdale.com/stoneclose.htm
Bay Tree Café 015242 72160
Mews Coffee House “
71007
Bernie’s Café (The Cavers’ Café)
“
41802 http://www.berniescafe.co.uk
Copper Kettle
“
41020
The Falls Café
“
41617 http://www.thefallscafe.co.uk
Nose Bag
“
63150
Bridge House Farm Tearooms
“
22496 http://www.bridgehousefarm.co.uk
Amy’s Tea Shop
01524 841510
Eleven Café Bar
“ 33354
http://bar-eleven.co.uk
Old Bell Café “ 36561
Sun Café “ 845599
Whale Tail Vegetarian Café “ 845133 http://www.whaletailcafe.co.uk
Canalside Craft Centre
“ 752223 http://www.canalsidecraftcentre.com
Silk Mill Café “ 752450
Café d’Lune
“ 752048
Lantern o’er Lune
“ 752323
Caravan & Camping Sites
Cautley
Sedbergh
Dent
Kirkby Lonsdale
Cowan Bridge
Ingleton
Burton-in-Lonsdale
Clapham
Austwick
Ireby
Bentham
Caton
Lancaster
Glasson
Cockerham
Cross Hall Caravan Park
015396 20668 http://www.cautleycaravans.co.uk
Pinfold Caravan Park
“
20576 http://www.hanleycaravans.co.uk/pinfold-leisure-park.php
Conder Farm
“
25277
Ewegales
“
25440
High Laning Caravan Park
“
25239 http://www.highlaning.co.uk
Mill Beck
“
25275 http://www.dentdale.com/millbeckcaravan.htm
Whernside Manor (bunkhouse)
“
25213 http://www.whernsidemanor.com
Woodclose Caravan Park
015242 71597 http://www.woodclosepark.com
New House Caravan Park
“
71590
Broadwood Caravan Park
“
41253 http://www.ukparks.co.uk/broadwood
Holme Head Caravan Park
“
41874 http://www.holme-head.bizhosting.com
Moorgarth Farm
“
41428 http://www.freewebs.com/moorgarth
Parkfoot Caravan Park
“
61833 http://www.parkfoot.co.uk
Stackstead Farm Caravan Park
“
41386 http://www.stacksteadfarm.co.uk
Gallaber Farm Caravan Park
“
61361 http://www.gallaber.btinternet.co.uk
Flying Horseshoe Caravan Site
“
51532 http://www.laughing-gravy.co.uk
Dalesbridge
“
51021 http://www.dalesbridge.co.uk
Wood End Farm
“
51296
Ireby Green Caravan Park
“
41203
Lowther Hill Caravan Park
“
61657
Riverside Caravan Park
“
61272 http://www.riversidecaravanpark.co.uk
Crook o’Lune Caravan Park
01524 770216 http://www.ukparks.co.uk/crookolune
New Parkside Farm Caravan Park
“ 770723
Marina Caravan Park
“ 751787
Mosswood Caravan Park
“ 791041 http://www.mosswood.co.uk
Events
Orton
Greenholme
Sedbergh
Farmers Market (2nd Sat of each month)
http://www.ortonfarmers.co.uk
Greenholme Show (2nd Sat of June)
Festival of Books & Drama (Aug/Sep)
http://www.sedbergh.org.uk/bookfestival
Festival of Ideas (July)
http://www.sedbergh.org.uk/ideasfestival
Dent
Barbon
Underley
Kirkby Lonsdale
Chapel-le-Dale
Ingleton
Austwick
Bentham
Wray
Lancaster
Glasson
general
Music Festival (June, biennial)
http://www.sedbergh.org.uk/events/music-festival
Dent Folk Festival (June)
http://www.dentfolkfestival.co.uk
Dentdale Festival (Aug Bank Holiday)
Barbon Show & Sheepdog Trials (3rd Sat in Aug)
Lunesdale Agricultural Show (2nd Tues in Aug)
Victorian Fair (early Sep)
Three Peaks Race (late April)
http://www.threepeaksrace.org.uk
Ingleton Gala (3rd Sat in July)
http://ingletongala.org.uk
Cuckoo Festival (late May)
Agricultural Show (Sep)
Wray (Scarecrow) Festival (Apr/May) 015242 22311 http://www.wrayvillage.co.uk/scarecrows.htm
Dukes Outdoor Theatre (July/Aug)
0845 344 0642
Jazz Festival (Sept)
01524 582803
Fireworks Spectacular (early Nov)
Literature Festival (Oct)
01524 582394 http://www.litfest.org
Glasson Dock Festival (early July)
http://www.glassonfestival.org.uk
Bowland Arts Fetsival (May, June)
015242 21233 http://www.bowlandarts.co.uk
Bowland Festival (early June)
01484 861148 http://www.forestofbowland.com
Lunesdale Open Studio Trail (June)
015242 61718 http://www.lunesdalearts.co.uk
Fisheries
Newbiggin-on-Lune
Arkholme
Caton
Quernmore
Thurnham
Cockerham Nateby
Nateby
Bessy Beck Trout Fishery
015396 23303 http://www.bessybecktrout.co.uk
Redwell Fisheries
015242 21979 http://www.redwellfisheries.co.uk
Bank House Fly Fishery
01524 770412 http://www.ribblesdale.net/stocks/bankhouse
Forrest Hills Fly Fishery
“ 752566 http://www.forresthills.co.uk
Thursland Hill Fishery
“ 751076 http://www.thurslandhillfishery.co.uk
Cockerham Quarry
07957 888048
Manor House Farm Fishery
01995 602203
Copthorne Lakes Fishery
“ 602120
Galleries
Kirkby Lonsdale
Ingleton
Bentham
Lancaster
Finestra Gallery
015242 73747 http://www.finestragallery.co.uk
Peter Bolton Gallery
“
41703 http://www.visitingleton.co.uk/peterbolton.html
Bentham Gallery
“
63366
Arteria Ltd
01524 61111
http://www.arteriawithgallery23.co.uk
Peter Scott Gallery
“ 593057 http://www.peterscottgallery.com
Storey Gallery
“ 844133 http://www.storeygallery.org.uk
Town House Gallery
“ 63436
http://www.townhousegallery.co.uk
Golf Courses
Sedbergh
Casterton
Kirkby Lonsdale
Bentham
Lancaster
Quernmore
Sedbergh Golf Club
015396 21551 http://www.sedberghgolfclub.co.uk
Casterton Golf Course
015242 71592 http://www.castertongolf.co.uk
Kirkby Lonsdale Golf Club
“
76365 http://www.kirkbylonsdalegolf.co.uk
Bentham Golf Club
“
62455 http://www.benthamgolfclub.co.uk
Lancaster Golf Club
01524 751247 http://www.lancastergc.co.uk
Forrest Hills
“ 752566 http://www.forresthills.co.uk
Groups & Societies
Cave Rescue Organisation
http://www.cro.org.uk
Craven Pothole Club
http://www.cravenpotholeclub.org
Friends of the Lake District
01539 720788 http://www.fld.org.uk
Lancaster Civic Society
01524 845301 http://www.lancastercivicsociety.org
Limestone Pavement Action Group
01539 816300 http://www.limestone-pavements.org.uk
Lune Rivers Trust
015242 22174
Middlewood Trust
“
22214 http://www.middlewood.org.uk
Yorkshire Dales Society
01943 461938 http://www.yds.org.uk
Guest Houses and B&B (see also Hotels and Inns)
Tebay
High Bank House
Primrose Cottage
The Old School
Sedbergh
Brantrigg
015396 24651
“
24791 http://www.primrosecottagecumbria.co.uk
“
24286 http://www.theoldschooltebay.co.uk
“
21455 http://www.brantrigg.co.uk
Cowgill
Dent
Barbon
Ingleton
Burton-in-Lonsdale
Tunstall
Clapham
Austwick
Bentham
Claughton
Lancaster
Bay Horse
Forton
Holmecroft
Number Ten
Summerhill
River View
Garda View
Slack Cottage
Smithy Fold
Stone Close
Kemps Hill B&B
Bridge End
Dales Guest House
Gatehouse Farm
Ingleborough View
Inglenook Guest House
Nutstile
Riverside Lodge
Seed Hill Guest House
Springfield Country
Thorngarth Country
River Cottage
Barnfield Farm B&B
Arbutus
Brookhouse
Pengarth
Wood View
Fowgill Park
Halsteads Barn
New Butts Farm
Low House Farm B&B
Edenbreck House
Greaves House B&B
Lancaster Town House
Mulberry Cottage
The Ashton, Well House
The Old Station House
The Shakespeare B&B
Salt Oke South B&B
Middle Holly Cottage
“
20754
“
21808
“
20360
“
25592
“
25209
“
25439
“
25368
“
25231
015242 76322
“
41413
“
41401
“
41458
“
41523
“
41270
“
41752
“
41359
“
41799
“
41280
“
41295
“
64988
“
74284
“
51240
“
51580
“
51073
“
51190
“
61630
“
62641
“
41238
“
21260
01524 32464
“ 39344
“ 383148
“ 64755
“ 68460
“ 381060
“ 841041
“ 752313
“ 792399
http://www.holmecroftbandb.co.uk
105396 23416
015242 71865
“
51052
“
64876
“
61567
“
21347
“
62424
“
22599
01524 36867
“ 852336
“ 63109
07768 211842
01524 751053
01523 790504
01524 751285
“ 791457
http://www.cumbriaholidaycottage.co.uk
http://www.sellethall.com
http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/spoutscroft/
http://www.fourstoneshouse.co.uk
http://www.oysterberfarm.co.uk
http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/garden-cottage
Greenwood Leghe Holiday Home Park 015242 41511
Goodenbergh Country Holiday Park
“
62022
Cockerham Sands Country Park
01524 751387
http://www.greenwoodleghe.co.uk
http://www.goodenberghleisure.co.uk/
http://www.cockerhamsandscountrypark.co.uk
Holiday Cottages (self-catering)
Newbiggin-on-Lune
High Lane Farm
Whittington
Sellet Hall Cottages
Austwick
Spoutscroft Cottage
Bentham
Fourstones
Oysterber Farm Gressingham
Garden Cottage
Tatham
Hill Farm
Swallow Cottage
Lancaster
Shepherds Barn
Heaton
Whittam Barn
Quernmore
Lodge View Cottages
Knotts Farm
Galgate
Lakewood Cottages
Cockerham
Near Moss Farm
Patty’s Farm Barn
Forton
Forton Hall Barn
Holiday Parks
Ingleton
Bentham
Cockerham
http://www.dedicate.co.uk/river-view
http://www.dentdale.com/gardaview.htm
http://www.dentdale.com/slack.htm
http://www.smithyfold.co.uk
http://www.dentdale.com/stoneclose.htm
http://www.kempshill.co.uk
http://www.ingleton.co.uk/stayat/bridgeend/page1.asp
http://www.dalesgh.co.uk
http://www.gatehouseingleton.co.uk
http://www.ingleboroughview.com
http://www.inglenookguesthouse.com
http://www.nutstile.co.uk
http://www.riversideingleton.co.uk
http://www.come2ingleton.com
http://www.yorkshirenet.co.uk/stayat/springfieldhotel
http://www.thorngarth.co.uk
http://rivercottagebandb.tripod.com
http://www.brookhouseclapham.co.uk
http://www.pengarth.co.uk
http://www.woodviewbandb.com
http://www.fowgillpark.co.uk
http://www.halsteadsbarn.co.uk
http://www.lowhousefarm.co.uk
http://www.greaveshousebedandbreakfast.co.uk
http://www.lancastertownhouse.co.uk
http://www.mulberrycottages.uk.com
http://www.theashtonlancaster.com
http://www.oldstationhouse.info
http://www.middlehollycottage.co.uk
http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/swallow
http://www.longtonsheepdogs.com
http://www.whittambarn.co.uk
http://www.lodgeview.co.uk
http://www.knottsfarm.co.uk
http://www.lakewoodcottages.co.uk
http://www.nearmossfarm.co.uk
http://www.pattysbarn.co.uk
http://www.fortonhall.com
Pilling
Fold House Holiday Home Park
01253 790267
http://www.foldhouse.co.uk
Hotels (see also Inns)
Newbiggin-on-Lune
Brownber Hall Country House
015396 23208 http://www.brownberhall.co.uk
Orton
George Hotel
“
24229 http://www.thegeorgehotelorton.co.uk
Salterwath
Shap Wells Hotel
01931 716628 http://www.shapwells.com
Sedbergh
Bull Hotel
015396 20264 http://www.bullhotelsedbergh.co.uk
Dent
George & Dragon Hotel
“
25256 http://www.thegeorgeanddragondent.co.uk
Middleton
Head at Middleton
“
20258 http://www.middleton-head.co.uk
Kirkby Lonsdale
Kings Arms Hotel
015242 71220
Orange Tree Hotel
“
71716 http://www.theorangetreehotel.com
Snooty Fox Hotel
“
71308 http://thesnootyfoxhotel.co.uk
Whoop Hall
“
71284 http://www.whoophall.co.uk
Cowan Bridge
Hipping Hall
“
71187 http://www.hippinghall.com
Thornton-in-Lonsdale Marton Arms Hotel
“
41281 http://www.martonarms.co.uk
Whittington
Dragons Head Hotel
“
72383
Arkholme
Bay Horse Hotel
“
21425
Clapham
New Inn Hotel
“
51203 http://www.newinn-clapham.co.uk
Austwick
Austwick Hall
“
51794 http://www.austwickhall.co.uk
Traddock Hotel
“
51224 http://www.austwicktraddock.co.uk
Bentham
Black Bull Hotel
“
61213 http://www.theblackbullbentham.co.uk
Punch Bowl Hotel
“
61344 http://www.punchbowlhotellowbentham.co.uk
Caton
Scarthwaite Country House Hotel
01524 770267 http://www.thescarthwaite.co.uk
Station Hotel
“ 770323
Halton
Greyhound Hotel
“ 811356
Skerton
Skerton Hotel
“ 37580
Lancaster
Bowerham Hotel
“ 65050
Fox & Goose Hotel
“ 66899
Golden Lion Hotel
“ 842198
Greaves Hotel
“ 63943
http://www.mitchellshotels.co.uk/greaves-hotel.shtml
Horse & Farrier Hotel
“ 63491
Lancaster House Hotel
“ 844822 http://www.elh.co.uk/hotels/lancaster
Moorlands Hotel
“ 33792
Park Hotel
“ 64886
Penny Street Bridge
“ 599900 http://www.pennystreetbridge.co.uk
Ring O’Bells Hotel
“ 64747
Royal Kings Arms Hotel
“ 32451
Galgate
Green Dragon Hotel
“ 751062
Conder Green
Stork Hotel
“ 751234
Overton
Globe Hotel
“ 858228 http://www.globehoteloverton.co.uk
Ship Hotel
“ 858231
Pilling
Springfield House Hotel
01253 790301 http://www.springfieldhousehotel.co.uk
Inns (see also Hotels & Pubs)
Tebay
Cross Keys Inn
015396 24240
Cautley
Cross Keys Temperance Inn
“
20284 http://www.cautleyspout.co.uk
Sedbergh
Dalesman Country Inn
“
21183 http://www.thedalesman.co.uk
Cowgill
Sportsman’s Inn
“
25282 http://www.thesportsmansinn.com
Dent
Sun Inn
“
25208 http://www.a1tourism.com/uk/thesuninndent.html
Middleton
Swan Inn
015242 76223
Barbon
Barbon Inn
“
76233 http://www.barbon-inn.co.uk
Casterton
Pheasant Inn
“
71230 http://www.pheasantinn.co.uk
Kirkby Lonsdale
Red Dragon Inn
“
71205
Sun Inn
“
71965 http://www.sun-inn.info
Nether Burrow
Highwayman Inn
“
73338 http://www.highwaymaninn.co.uk
Ribblehead
Station Inn
“
41274 http://www.thestationinn.net
Chapel-le-Dale
Old Hill Inn
“
41256 http://www.oldhillinn.co.uk
Ingleton
Craven Heifer Inn
“
41515 http://www.cravenheiferingleton.co.uk
Three Horseshoes Inn
“
41247
Wheatsheaf Inn
“
41275 http://www.wheatsheaf-ingleton.co.uk
Arkholme
Redwell Inn
“
21240
Austwick
Bentham
Wennington
Wray
Caton
Lancaster
Galgate
Thurnham
Glasson
Bay Horse
Cockerham
Game Cock Inn
Coach House
Horse & Farrier Inn
Sun Dial Inn
Bridge Inn
The Inn
Ship Inn
Holiday Inn
The Sun Inn
New Inn
Plough Inn
Mill Inn
Victoria Inn
Bay Horse Inn
Manor Inn
“
51226
“
62305
“
61381
“
61532
“
21326
“
21722
01524 770265
0870 4009047
01524 66006
01524 751643
“ 751337
“ 752852
“ 751423
“ 791204
“ 791252
http://www.gamecockinnaustwick.co.uk
Market Days
Sedbergh
Kirkby Lonsdale
Ingleton
Bentham
Lancaster
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Wednesday
Wednesday & Saturday
Museums
Lancaster
Castle
01524 46998
http://www.lancastercastle.com
City Museum
“ 64637
www.lancashire.gov.uk/acs/sites/museums/lancastercity/
Judges’ Lodgings
“ 32808
Maritime Museum
“ 382264
Priory
http://www.priory.lancs.ac.uk
Ruskin Library
“ 593587 http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/ruskinlib/
http://www.horseandfarrier.org.uk
http://www.vrwray.com/the-inn-at-wray.html
http://www.theshipatcaton.co.uk
http://www.holidayinn-lancaster.hotel-details.com
http://www.thesunhotelandbar.co.uk
http://www.newinngalgate.co.uk
http://www.the-plough.co.uk
http://www.thurnham-mill-hotel.co.uk
http://www.bayhorseinn.com
http://www.themanorinn.co.uk
Pubs (see also Hotels & Inns)
Tebay
Barnaby Rudge Tavern
015396 24328
Sedbergh
Red Lion
“
20433
Ingleton
Masons Arms
015242 41158
Tunstall
Lunesdale Arms
“
74203 http://www.thelunesdale.co.uk
Bentham
The Byres
“
62846
Wray
George & Dragon
“
21403 http://www.wrayvillage.co.uk/george/home.htm
Hornby
Royal Oak
“
21228
Claughton
Fenwick Arms
“
21250 http://www.fenwickarms.co.uk
Brookhouse
Black Bull
01524 770329 http://www.black-bull-inn.co.uk
Halton
White Lion
“ 812199
Lancaster
Blue Anchor
“ 66898
The Bobbin
“ 32606
Boot & Shoe
“ 63011
Duke of Lancaster
“ 66909
George & Dragon
“ 844739
Golden Ball
“ 63317
Green Ayre
“ 585240
John O’Gaunt
“ 65356
http://www.yeoldejohnogaunt.org.uk
Lord Ashton
“ 841185
Royal Oak
“ 65641
Sir Richard Owen
“ 541500
Three Mariners
“ 388957 http://www.threemariners.co.uk
Wagon & Horses
“ 846094 http://www.wagonandhorsespub.co.uk
Water Witch
“ 63828
http://www.thewaterwitch.co.uk
White Cross
“ 33999
Yorkshire House
“ 64679
http://www.yorkshirehouse.enta.net
Glasson
Dalton Arms
“ 751213 http://www.daltonarms.co.uk
Winmarleigh
Patten Arms
“ 791484
Restaurants
Kirkby Lonsdale
Ingleton
Bentham
Lancaster
Copper Kettle
Sorrel & Thyme
La Tavernetta
Asian Spice
Fish Inn
Bamboo Garden
Bella Italia
Bistro 26
Bombay Balti
Etna Pizza Pasta
Gatehouse
Golden Dragon
Il Bistro Morini
Imran’s
Marco’s Pizzeria
Meeting House
Miyabi Japanese
Moghuls
Mung Mee Thai
Pizza Margherita
Rastellis
Shabab Indian
Quite Simply French
Spaghetti House
Sultan of Lancaster
Verdes
015242 71714
“
72772
“
42465
“
63400
“
61317
01524 849948
“ 36340
“ 846252
“ 844550
“ 69551
“ 849111
“ 33100
“ 846252
“ 466010
“ 844445
“ 848049
“ 848356
“ 36253
“ 64107
“ 36333
“ 843008
“ 388454
“ 843199
“ 846011
“ 61188
“ 383436
Riding Centres
Tatham
Aldcliffe
Overton
Nateby
Greenhall Riding Centre
015242 61594 http://www.greenhallridingcentre.co.uk
Low Wood Barn
01524 35343
Lunebank Riding Centre
07767 831095 http://www.lanquestrianltd.com/Lunebank-Riding-Centre
Hawthorn Equestrian Centre
01995 601225 http://www.hawthorn-equestrian.co.uk
Tourist Attractions
Cautley
Garsdale
Sedbergh
Dent
Mansergh
Cowan Bridge
Ingleton
Clapham
Feizor
Arkholme
Bentham
Lancaster
Glasson
general
Cold Keld Walking Holidays
015396 23273 http://www.coldkeld.com
Sedgwick Geological Trail
http://www.kgg.org.uk/sedgwick.html
Farfield Mill Arts & Heritage Centre 015396 21958 http://www.farfieldmill.org
Holme Open Farm
“
20654 http://www.holmeopenfarm.co.uk
Craft Centre (Helmside)
“
25400
Dent Brewery
“
25326 http://www.dentbrewery.co.uk
Village Heritage Centre
“
25800 http://www.dentvillageheritagecentre.co.uk
Mansergh Hall Farm Shop
015242 71397 http://www.manserghhall.co.uk
Lune Valley Hampers
“
71775 http://www.lunevalleyhampers.com
Ingleton Pottery
“
41363 http://www.ingletonpottery.co.uk
Scenery Co. (Waterfalls Walk)
“
41930 http://www.ingletonwaterfallswalk.co.uk
White Scar Cave
“
41244 http://www.whitescarcave.co.uk
Ingleborough Show Cave
“
51242 http://www.ingleboroughcave.co.uk
Reginald Farrer Trail
Yorkshire Dales Falconry Centre
01729 822832 http://www.falconryandwildlife.com
Docker Park Farm Visitor Centre
015242 21331 http://www.dockerparkfarm.co.uk
Bentham Pottery
“
61567 http://www.benthampottery.com
Canal Waterbus
01524 389410 http://www.budgietransport.co.uk
Castle
“ 64998
http://www.lancastercastle.com
Leisure Park (and GB Antiques)
“ 68444
http://www.gbantiquescentre.com/about-llp.php
Priory
“ 65338
http://www.priory.lancs.ac.uk
Williamson Park (and Butterfly House) “ 33318
http://www.williamsonpark.com
Smokehouse
“ 751493 http://www.glassonsmokehouse.co.uk
Goldsworthy Sheepfolds
http://www.sheepfoldscumbria.co.uk
Rural Footprints guided walks
01524 221122 http://www.ruralfootprints.co.uk
Settle-Carlisle Railway
08457 484950 http://www.settle-carlisle.co.uk
http://www.bellapasta.co.uk
http://www.bistro26.co.uk
http://www.thegatehouserestaurant.co.uk
http://www.marcosrestaurant.com
http://www.meetinghouserestaurant.co.uk
http://www.miyabi-restaurant.co.uk
http://www.mungmee.co.uk
http://www.pizza-margherita.co.uk
http://www.rastelli-heatonhall.co.uk
http://www.quitesimplyfrench.co.uk
http://www.sultanoflancaster.com
http://verdes-restaurant-lancaster.co.uk
Index 253
Tourist/Visitor Information Centres
Sedbergh
72 Main St.
Kirkby Lonsdale
24 Main St.
Ingleton
Community Centre, Main St.
Bentham
26 Main St.
Lancaster
Storey Institute
015396 20125
015242 71437
“
41049 http://www.visitingleton.co.uk
“
62549
01524 32878
http://www.visitlancaster.co.uk
Websites
Tebay
Sedbergh
Dent
Kirkby Lonsdale
Ingleton
Whittington
Clapham
Austwick
Bentham
Tatham
Wray
Hornby
Caton
general
Cumbria Wildlife Trust
Forest of Bowland
Lancaster Cycling Club
Lune Cycling Club
Lune Valley Rough Fell Sheep
Yorkshire Dales
Yorkshire Dales (a landscape through time)
http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/tebay.htm
http://www.sedbergh.org.uk
http://www.dentdale.com
http://www.kirkbylonsdale.co.uk
http://www.ingleton.co.uk
http://www.whittingtonvillage.fsnet.co.uk
http://www.claphamyorkshire.co.uk
http://www.austwick.org
http://www.bentham.net
http://www.tathamfells.me.uk
http://www.wrayvillage.co.uk
http://www.hornbyvillage.org.uk
http://www.catonvillage.org.uk
http://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk
http://www.forestofbowland.com
http://www.lancastercc.co.uk
http://www.lunercc.org.uk
http://www.visitlunevalley.co.uk
http://www.roughfellsheep.co.uk
http://www.yorkshiredales.org
http://www.outofoblivion.org.uk
Index
Figures in italics refer to
illustration captions.
Figures in bold refer to an
‘information box’.
Abbey Lighthouse Cottage 239
Abbeystead 196, 225
Abbot Holme Bridge 89
Abbotson’s Farm 146
Acres 27
Act of Toleration 57
Adamthwaite 70
Afton Barn Cottage 192
Agnes de Caton 198
Agnes de Hebletwayt 73
Aldcliffe 220
Aldcliffe Hall 220, 226
Aldcliffe Marsh 219, 220, 234
Aldcliffe Road 221
Alderstone Bank 181
All Saints Church, Burton-inLonsdale 144-145
All Saints Church, Killington 95
All Saints Church, Orton 2728, 29
Allotment, The 165
alpacas 73, 73, 205
alpine lady’s mantle 71
Ambleside 120
American mink 189, 205
Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland
132, 145
Anglo-Saxons 86, 161
Angus Fire 172
Annas Ghyll 193
Apronfull of Stones 133, 136,
138
Arant Haw 21, 53, 54, 57, 74, 82
Arkholme 121, 149-150, 150,
151, 189
Arten Gill 83, 85, 126
Artengill Viaduct 83, 83, 85,
113, 126
Artle Beck 195-200, 199, 212
Ashdale Gill 100
Ashstead Fell 44
Ashton 221-222
Ashton Hall 199, 221-222
Ashton Memorial 221-222, 222,
242
Ashton, Jessie 222, 222
Ashton, Lord 216, 221-222
Aspland Beck 143
Aughton 192
Aughton Pudding Festival 192
Aughton Woods 192-193
Austin, Hubert 106
Austin, John L. 85
Austwick 121, 155, 161-162, 213
Austwick Beck 156-161, 165
Austwick Beck Head 157, 160
Austwick Bridge 162
Austwick Common 165
Austwick Moss 163
Aye Gill Pike 88
Aygill 105, 115
Backside Beck 70, 181
Bagshaw Tunnel 132
Bailey Bridge 239
Baines Cragg 203, 224, 225
Baines, Edward 148
Baines, Mary 29
Baines, Richard 203
Baines’s Gazetteer 148
Bains Beck 150
Ball Lane Mill 200
Baltic tellins 235
Bank House 190
Bank Houses 239
Bankland 89
Bannisdale Fell 40
Banton House 226
Barbara’s Cottage 22
Barbon 106, 109, 114, 121, 138,
175
Barbon Beck 68, 101-106, 109,
133
Barbon High Fell 105
Barbon Inn 106, 121
Barbon Low Fell 102, 109
Barbon Manor 105-106, 105, 106
Barbon Sprint Hillclimb 106
Barbondale 87, 98, 102, 102-106,
105, 110, 115, 118, 141, 161
Barefoot Wives Hole 131
Bark Barn 225
Barkin Beck 102
Barkin Bridge 183
Barlow, Thomas 22
Barnoldswick 142
Barth Bridge 89
basket making 149, 192
bats 89
Battlefield Cavern 132
Batty Green shantytown 128
Batty Green Station 126
Batty Hill 239
Batty Moss Viaduct 113, 126128, 127, 130
Baugh Fell 11, 21, 59, 63-64, 68,
70, 73-77, 78, 88, 95, 98
Baxenghyll Gorge 132, 138
Bay Horse 236
Bazil Point 219, 229
Beacon Hill 27
Beaumont, Major the Hon. E.
196
Beck Foot 52, 55
Beck Head 155
Beck House 53, 55
Beck Houses Gate 55
Beckfoot Farm 106
Beckside Hall 97
Bective, Lord 109
Beezley Falls 132, 132
Beezleys 132, 138
Beggar’s Stile 162
Belhill Farm 196
Belt Howe 39
Belted Beauty moth 235
Bendrigg Trust 68
Benson, Dorothy 71
Bentham 9, 143-144, 165, 171172
Bentham Bridge 171
Bentham House 171
Bentham Pottery 216
Bessy Beck 17
Bessy Beck Trout Fishery 17
Bewick’s swans 219
Big Meanie 117
Biggins Hall Farm 148
Binyon, Laurence 85, 145, 145
Biodiversity Action Plan 168
Biological Heritage Site 150, 193
bird’s eye primrose 24
Birk Bank 223
Birk Beck 30, 33-37, 72
Birkbeck Fells 9, 34-35, 118, 243
Birkbeck Viaduct 35
Birks Farm 178
Birks Mill 82
Birmingham Six 212
Black Beck 100
Black Bull 193
Black Burton 143
Black Combe 181
Black Fell 196
Black Force 48, 48, 50, 50, 72
black grouse 104
Black Gutter 75
Black Knights Parachute Centre
239
Blackpool Tower 223
Bladder Stone Beck 181
Blair’s Beat 145
Blake Mire 78
Blakethwaite Bottom 48, 50
Blanch Fell 196, 198
Blands, The 172-173
blanket bog 33, 167-168
Blea Gill 63
Blea Moor 83, 85, 125
Bleamoor Tunnel 83, 86, 126,
128
Blease Fell 37
Blind Beck 105
Blindbeck Bridge 105
Bluecaster 64, 68, 71
bog bush cricket 237
Bogg Bridge 143
Bolton-by-Bowland 152
Bone Hill 181
Bonnie Prince Charlie 40
book town 81
Borrow Beck 40-44, 47, 51
Borrowdale 33, 35, 38, 40-44,
40, 42, 161
Borrowdale Edge 44
Borrowdale Head 40
Borrowdale Wood 44
Borwens 98, 100
Bosom Wood 181
Botton Bridge 175-176
Botton Head 176
Botton Head Fell 175-176
Botton Mill 176, 178
Boulton, David 83
Bowderdale 18-21, 19, 20, 50,
72, 161
Bowderdale Beck 11, 18-21, 51
Bowderdale Foot 20
Bowderdale Head 20
Bowerham 221
Bowersike 59
Bowland Arts Festival 149
Bowland Fells 10, 21, 57, 114,
135, 164-165, 168, 168, 175176, 181, 196, 205, 221, 233,
244, 244
Bowland Knotts 165-166, 167
Bowskill Wood 183
Brades 190
Bradshaw, Edith 144
Braida Garth 133, 138
Braithwaite Wife Hole 131
Bram Rigg Top 53
Brant Fell 54, 55
Breaks Head 48, 53
Breasthigh Road 39, 44
Bremetenacum 120
Bretherdale 34-35, 37, 39, 110,
161, 204
Bretherdale Beck 34-35, 39
Bretherdale Foot 39
Bretherdale Hall 35, 39
Bretherdale Head 35, 39
Index 255
Bridge End (Caton) 198
Bridge End (Dentdale) 89
Bridge End (Garsdale) 77
Bridge End Cottage 85
Bridgeman, Capt. the Hon. H.
196
Brigantes 130
Brigflatts 91, 91, 213
Briggflatts 91
Briggs, Colonel 120
Broad Fleet 11, 235, 240-242
Broad Raine 59
Broadfell 27
Broadraine Weir 122
Brocklebridge Church 147
Brocklehurst, Mr. 120
Brokken Bridge 156
Brontë Cottage 120
Brontë sisters 119, 120, 147
Brontë, Charlotte 120
Brontë, Rev. Patrick 120
Bronze Age burial cairn 133
Brookhouse 193-194, 199-200
Brookhouse Brick Company 196
Brow Foot 20
Brow Gill 99
Brow Side Plantation 164
Brown Knott 95, 99
Brown Moor 53, 55
Brown Syke 181
Brownber Hall 17
Brownthwaite 109, 112
Brownthwaite Pike 118, 225
Brows 229
Brunt Sike 55
Bruntscar 127
Bull Beck 193-195
Bull Pot of the Witches 115
Bullpot Farm 117
Bunting, Basil 91
Burn Moor 166-168, 167, 171
Burn, Richard 28
Burns Beck Moss Nature
Reserve 96-97
Burrow Beck 220-222, 223
Burrow Bridge 119, 121
Burrow Hall 120-121, 199
Burrow Heights 220-221
Burrow-with-Burrow 120
Burrow, Arthur 173
Burton Bridge 144
Burton Wood 192, 193, 205
Burton-in-Kendal 128, 143
Burton-in-Lonsdale 85, 141,
143-145
Bush Howe 47, 53, 55
Byber Mill 144
Calacum 120
Calders 53
Calf Beck 53
Calf Cop 172
Calf Top 98-99, 102, 104, 104,
129
Calf, The 17-18, 20-22, 23, 48,
53, 71, 74
Camden, William 120
Camp House 189
canoeing 59, 100, 206
Cansfield family 172
Cant Beck 145-147
Cantsfield 146
Cantsfield House 146
Capplethwaite 96
Capplethwaite Beck 57-59
Capplethwaite Hall 58
Capstick, Thomas 68
Carboniferous (Dinantian) 28
Carboniferous (Silesian) 28
Carboniferous limestone 77-78,
130-131, 137, 160-161
Carlin Gill 6, 17, 50
Carling, Will 81
Carlingill Beck 47-51, 48
Carlingill Bridge 50
Carlisle Bridge 216, 219, 222
Carnforth 30, 149-150, 173
Carr, Joseph 130
Carus family 208
carved choir stalls 213
Casterfell Hill 39
Casterton 99, 110-111, 111, 120
Casterton Fell 115
Casterton Hall 111, 114
Casterton School 111, 144
Casterton stone circle 118
Castle Fell 44
Castle Folds 27
Castle Hill (Lancaster) 210
Castle Hill (Leck Fell) 118
Castle Howe 30
Castle Knott 100
Castle Stede 151, 184, 213
Castlehaw 81
Castley 55
Castley Knotts 55
Castley Wood 54
Catholic Virgins 220
Catinella arenaria 24
Caton 9, 121-122, 189, 194, 199200, 200, 205-206, 210, 221
Caton Green 199-200
Caton Hall 199
Caton Moor 193-194, 193, 204,
225
Caton wind turbines 193, 193,
194, 196, 204, 225
Cautley 183
Cautley Crag 17, 63, 67, 69, 71,
71-74, 72, 100
Cautley Holme Beck 71-72
Cautley Mudstones 70
Cautley Spout 71-72, 71, 72,
74, 110
Cave Rescue Organisation 156,
157
Cavendish-Bentinck, Lady 110
Cavendish-Bentinck, Lord 109110
Chapel Beck (Chapel-le-Dale)
125-132, 137-138, 141, 141
Chapel Beck (Howgills) 47,
53-55
Chapel Beck (Orton Fells) 25-29
Chapel Hill 149
Chapel House (Kirkby Lonsdale)
114
Chapel House (Orton) 28
Chapelhouse Lane 114
Chapel-le-Dale 48, 121, 125,
127-129, 161, 165
Chester 213
Chipping 181
Church Bridge 89
Church of Holy Ghost,
Middleton 100
Church of the Good Shepherd,
Lowgill 178
Churchfield House 146
Churchill, John 132
Churngill Beck 22
cirque 18, 72, 87
Civil War 91, 97, 120, 147, 184,
211
Clapdale 155-156
Clapdale Drive 156
Clapham 30, 38, 85, 156, 157,
163, 165, 167, 204
Clapham Beck 155-156
Clapham Viaduct 166
Clapham Wood Hall 168
Clapham-Wennington railway
line 30
clapper bridge 162
Clarke, Henry Lowther 58
Claughton 121, 148, 189-191,
205
Claughton Beck 189-192
Claughton brickworks 190, 190,
194, 213
Claughton Hall 191
Claughton Hall Farm 191
Claughton Moor 189-190
Claughton Quarries 193
Clear Beck 179
Clearbeck House 179
Clergy Daughters’ School 111,
120
clint 26-27, 86, 129, 131
Clintsfield 172, 173
Clouds Gill 67
Clough Cottage 78
Clough Force 72, 75, 78
Clough River 11, 68, 73-78, 81
Clougha 223, 226
Clougha Pike 129, 223, 225
coal mining 84, 105, 141, 172173, 173, 183, 197
Coal Road 84-85
Coast-to-Coast route 27
Cock Hall Farm 239
Cocker 235-240
Cocker Bridge 238
Cocker Channel 238
Cocker Clough Wood 236
Cocker House Bridge 236
Cockerham 197, 236-239
Cockerham Moss 238
Cockerham Sands 181, 235, 239
Cockersand Abbey 238-239, 239,
240, 241
Cocklett Scar 196
Cockpit Hill 111
Cold Cotes 143
Cold Keld 67, 69
Collingholme 146
Collingwood Terrace 172
Collingwood, William 172
Colloway Hill 220
Colloway Marsh 219
Combe 87
Combe Bottom 87
Combe Scar (Middleton Fell) 87,
89, 89, 90, 99
Combe Scar (Whernside) 127
Combe Top 87, 225
common land 25, 35, 64
common sandpiper 171
Conder 206, 222-229, 228, 236
Conder Green 227, 228
Conder Head 223, 225
Conder Mill 223
Conder Mill Bridge 224
Conder, Edward 101
conjunctive use scheme 206
Constantius I 120
Cookson’s Tenement 55
corn mills 89
Cote Beck 207
Cote Gill 165
Cotegill Beck 21
Cottage Museum 216
cotton tree 233-234
Countryside and Rights of Way
Act 10, 152, 168
Countryside Stewardship
Scheme 64
County Beck 172
County Lunatic Asylum 213
County Stone 117
Cow Dub 116, 117
Cow Dub Tarn 24
Cowan Bridge 111, 119-120
Cowdber Farm 146
Cowgill 84, 86
Cowgill Beck 84
Cowgill Chapel 84
Cowgill Institute 86
Crag Hill (Birkbeck Fells) 34
Crag Hill (Leck Fell) 88, 98, 102,
104, 115, 117
Cragg Lot 150-151
Cragg Wood 223, 224, 225
Craven Faults 137-138, 161
Craven Way 86-88
Croft House 148
Croft, Tom 78
Crook 74, 82
Crook Beck 165
Crook Farm 229, 239
Crook Holme 74
Crook o’Lune 6, 8, 9, 203-205
203, 204
Crook of Lune Bridge 51, 52,
55, 113
Crookdale 40
Crookdale Beck 40
Crosdale Beck 57
Cross Fell 21, 34
Cross Keys Inn (Cautley) 7071, 74
Cross Keys Inn (Tebay) 29, 121
Cross of Greet 175
Crossgill 196
Crossgill Beck 196
CRoW land 10
CRoW policy 125
Crown Court 212
Crummack 157, 162
Crummackdale 157-162, 162
Cuckoo Town 161
Cumberland 9
Cumbria 9, 50, 83, 115, 243
Cumbria Wildlife Trust 24, 96
curlew 53, 124, 189
Curwen family 198
Curwen, John 198
Custom House (Glasson) 229
Custom House (Lancaster) 214,
215
Dacre family 208
Dale Beck 176
Dale Gill 17
Dale Slack 69
Dale Wood 207
Dales Way 51-52, 54-55, 59, 82,
85, 89
Dalton family 220, 226-227,
238, 241
Dalton Johnson, Kevin 202
Dalton Square 226
Dalton, Robert 226, 240
Dalton, Thomas 220
Damside mill 241, 242
Damside Street 210
Dandra Garth 77
Dandry Mire 75, 126
Dandrymire Viaduct 75, 76, 78,
126
Danny Bridge 77
Darwin, Charles 84
datestones 100
Dawnay, Major the Hon. J. 196
Dawson, John 81
de Mowbray family 144
Dee 11, 68, 82-91, 243
Deep Clough 196
Deep Gill 52
Deepdale 81, 86, 88-89
Deepdale Beck 86, 89
deer 33, 183
Defoe, Daniel 214
Denny Beck 181
Dent 83, 85-87, 89, 99, 121, 133,
135, 138, 230
Dent Brewery 86
Dent Fault 68, 68, 73, 77-78, 84,
86, 98, 102, 118
Dent Head 83-84, 126
Dent Head Farm 85
Dent Head Viaduct 83, 85, 126
Dent marble 83, 86-87
Dent Station 83-85
Dent Village Heritage Centre
87, 216
Dentdale 38, 48, 72, 77, 81,
83-88, 90, 98, 102, 113, 115,
126, 133, 141, 161, 181
Devil’s Bridge 112-114, 113
Devil’s Tongue 132
Deys Beck 203
Diamond Resorts 227
Dillicar 58
dipper 52-53, 171
Dissolution of the Monasteries
81, 112, 213, 240
Docker Force 34, 34, 72
Dodd, Peter 152
Dodderham Moss 84
Dodson, Rev. John 197, 236
Doe 125, 141
Dorothy Bridge 34
Double Hole Bridge 78
Dovengill 69
Dowbiggin 78
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan 143
drove road 24, 30, 34, 47, 84, 95
drumlin 18, 165, 219
Dry Beck 17
Duchy of Lancaster 212, 223
Duke of Westminster 152
Dyke Farm 39
Eagland Hill 240-241
Earl of Bective 109
Earl of Montbegon 184
Ease Gill 115-118, 116, 117
Ease Gill Kirk 117, 117
Easegill Caverns 115-118, 117
Easegill Force 143
East Baugh Fell 11, 74-75, 75, 78
East Grain 22
East House 78
East Kettlesbeck 164, 165
East Scale 78
East Tarns 67
Ecker Secker Beck 73
Edith’s Wood 144
eel 186
Ekwall, Eilert 212
Eldroth Chapel 163, 163
Ellel 223, 226, 238
Ellel Grange 236, 238, 238
Ellel Ministries 236, 238
Ellerbeck 127
Ellergill Beck (north Howgills)
22
Ellergill Beck (west Howgills) 53
Ellerthwaite 74
enclosure 87, 161, 164
English Nature 35
Environment Agency 122, 209,
235
erratic 18, 26, 160-161, 161
Escow Beck 203
Escowbeck House 203
Eskew Beck (Birkbeck Fells) 34
Eskew Beck (Wenningdale) 172
Eskrigge 189
European Pathways to Cultural
Landscapes 152
Ewelock Bank 34
Fairmile Beck 51
Fairmile Gate 51
Fairmile Road 51, 221
Falconry Centre 163
Far Westhouse 144
Faraday family 168
Faraday, Michael 168
Farfield Mill 78, 216
Farleton 190-191, 194
Farleton Beck 189-191
Farm-Smart 96
Farrer family 156-157, 156
Farrer House 200
Farrer, Oliver 156
Farrer, Reginald 85, 156, 204
Fawcett Bank 74
Fawcett Bank Rigg 73, 74
Fawcett Mill 25
Fea Fow 74, 78
Feathermire 177
Federation of Cumbrian
Commoners 64
Feizor 163
Fell Beck 155, 165
Fell End Clouds 63, 66-67, 69
Fell Garth 114
Fell Head 51, 51, 55, 59
fell ponies 23, 38, 51, 68, 100
Fell Yeat 114
Fellfoot Road 109-110, 114
Fellside 99
female native black poplar 233234
Fen Beck 156, 163
Fenwick Arms 121, 190
Fenwick family 120
Fenwick, Robert 120
Ferryman’s Cottage 149
Festival of Ideas 81
Finestra Gallery 216
Firbank 58
Firbank Fell 57-58, 243
First Terrace 233, 233
Fish Stones 200, 200
fishing 59, 209
Fitzherbert, Capt. the Hon. T. 196
Five Gills 67
Flakebridge Beck 21
Fleetwood 229, 234-235
Fleming, John 85
Flemish chimneys 81
Fleshbeck 181
Flinter Gill 87, 89
Flinter Gill Nature Trail 87
Flodden Field 147, 184, 203
Flodden Hill Wood 203
flood defence 216
floodplain 121-122, 189-192
Fluke Hall 242
Flust 78
fluvial geomorphology 48
Fold House 242
Fogg, Fred 227
Foggy Hill 68
Force Gill 72, 125-127, 126
Ford, Benson 172
Forest of Bowland 9, 10, 151,
152, 168, 194-196
Forest of Mewith 171
Forge Bank Weir 122, 206
Forge Mill 200
Forrest Hills 226
Forton 236, 237
Forton Hall Farm 236
Fostal Bridge 197
Foster’s Arms Hotel 173
Index 257
Foul Gutter 125
Foundry Beck 207
Fountains Abbey 156
Four Lane Ends 59
Fox, George 57-58, 85, 91, 212
Fox’s Pulpit 57-59, 57, 85
Foxdale Beck 196-197
Foxhole Rigg 71, 73
Freeman’s Wood 234
Friends of Bretherdale 35
Friends of the Earth 35
Friends of the Lake District 42
Frostrow 77-78
Furnace Cottage 207
Furnaceford Bridge 179
Furness 9
Furnessford Bridge 178
Furnessford Road 178
Fylde 147, 230, 235, 240-242,
244
Gaisgill 22
Galava 120
Galgate 226
Galloway Gate 34, 84-85
Galloway Stone 34
Gallows Hill 196
Game Cock 121
Gaping Gill 72, 115, 155, 155,
165
Gars, The 184
Garsdale 48, 75-77, 77, 78, 81,
84, 87, 126, 213
Garsdale Head 74, 77
Garsdale Low Moor 75
Garsdale Station 78
Garstang 221, 237, 242
Garstang-Pilling railway line 242
Gaskell, Elizabeth 120
Gate House 55
Gate Side 55
Gatekirk Cave 128
Gaunt, Elizabeth 17
Gawthrop 89
geology of Loyne 28
Gerard family 222
Gernet family 208, 223
Ghyll Farm (east of Sedbergh) 74
Ghyll Farm (west of Sedbergh)
59
Ghyllas 73, 73
Gibbet Hill 51
Gibbs Hall 86, 89
Gibson family 109, 223
Giggleswick 163
Gilbert family 222
Gildard Hill 114
Gillow furniture 214
Gillow Museum 214
Gillow, Richard 214
Gillow, Robert 214
Girlington family 147, 198
glaciation 18, 18
Glasson 30, 226-229, 234, 239
Glasson Canal 226, 227, 229
Glasson Dock 233
Glasson Group 229
Glasson marina 228, 229, 239
Glasson Marsh 219
Glasson Watch House 229, 229
God’s Bridge 131
Golden Ball 121, 219, 219
Goldsworthy Sheepfolds 109,
110, 114, 143
Goldsworthy, Andy 110, 143
Goodber Beck 181, 183
Goodber Common 177, 181
Goodies 59
Goodman Syke 176
Gorham Judgement 197
Gragareth 115, 115, 117-118,
133, 135, 143, 145, 175, 182
Grain Gill 69
Grain Head 125
Grains Gill 50
Grassrigg 59
Gray, Thomas 203-204, 206
Gray’s Seat 203
Grayrigg 6, 37, 47, 50
Grayrigg Common 52
Grayrigg Pike 37, 47, 129
Great Asby Scar 26
Great Coum (Grayrigg) 37, 47
Great Coum (Leck Fell) 63, 87,
115, 115, 116, 117-118, 125,
129, 133
Great Devonian Controversy 84
Great Douk Cave 131
Great Dummacks 74
Great Harlow 166
Great Kinmond 26
Great Knoutberry Hill 64, 83, 85,
90, 98, 225
Great Scar limestone 130
Great Shunner Fell 63
Great Stone of Fourstones 171,
171-172
Great Swindale 18
Great Ulgill Beck 48
Great Yarlside 33, 40, 42
Green Ayre 210-211, 219
Green Bell 17-18, 17, 18, 20, 22,
33, 67, 70, 95
Green Close Studios 149
Green Hill 117
Green Lane 87, 89
Greenbank Fell 175
Greene, Thomas 148
Greenholme (Tebay) 33, 47
Greenholme (Sedbergh) 59
Greensett 125
Greensett Cave 125, 127
Greensett Moss 125
Greensett Tarn 67, 125
Greenside Beck 17
Greenwell, William 24
Greenwood, Tom 132
Greenwood, Will 81
Greeta Bridge 145
Greg, John 203
Gregson’s Hill 166
Gresgarth 198, 200
Gresgarth Hall 198-199
Gressingham 148, 152, 152
Gressingham Beck 152
Gressingham Duck 152
Greta 122, 125, 129, 132, 135,
141-145, 141, 142, 147, 147,
243
Greta Bridge 99, 145
Greta Wood 145
Grey Stone 177
grey wagtail 171
Greyhound Bridge 207, 210, 211
Griffin, Harry 17
grike 26, 66, 131
Grisedale 63, 72, 74-75, 77, 78,
161
Grisedale Beck 75
Grisedale Gill 74, 78
Grisedale Pike 74, 76, 78
Grizedale Brook 224
grouse 104, 175, 196
grouse shooting 98, 157, 166,
196
Grove Gill 109
haaf netting 223
Hackney Pony 100
Hadrian’s Tower 212
hairy lady’s mantle 73
Hall Beck 95
Halton 181, 205-208, 207, 208,
211, 223, 230
Halton Hall 208
Halton Lower Beat 209
Halton Mills 205-206
Halton Top Beat 209
Halton Training Camp 208
Hamilton, Emma 58
Hamilton family 222
Hampson Green 220, 236
Hand Lake 181
Hanging Corner 212
Harden Bridge 161
Hare Gill 125
Hare Shaw 20
Harrison, Thomas 210, 212, 223
Harrop Pike 40
Harter Fell 66, 67
Harterbeck 183
Haskhaw Gill 74, 78
Hause Foot 40
Haverah Beck 91
Haweswater Aqueduct 114, 172,
175, 178, 195
Hawking Hall 100
Hawkins, Louisa 143
Hawkrigg Wood 59
Hawkshead 197
Hawthornthwaite Fell 223
Haylot Farm 181, 183
Haylot Fell 196
Hazelgill Knott 20
Hazelrigg 225
Head, The 121
Heartside Plantation 181
heath 167-168
heather 157
Heaton Marsh 219
Hebblethwaite Hall Gill 73
Hebblethwaite Hall Wood 73
Hebblethwaite Mill 73
Hebblethwaite, Mrs 97
Hebblethwaites 91
Hellot Scales Barn 117
Helmside Craft Centre 89
hen harrier 53, 196
heron 53, 121, 146, 186
Herpetological Conservation
Trust 238
Heysham 208, 220, 230, 234-235
Heysham Moss 230
Heysham power station 220,
221, 229
High Barth 89
High Bentham 171, 172
High Bentham Mill 171
High Biggins 148
High Borrow Bridge 40, 42
High Borrowdale 42
High Casterton 114
High Dam Beck 152
High Hall 89
High Haygarth 70-71
High House Bank 33, 40, 40
High House Fell 40
High Howeth 131
High Ivah 178
High Park 118
High Pike 133
High Salter 183
High Scale 78
High Sheriff of Lancashire 200,
212, 236
High Stephen’s Head 181
High Stockdale Bridge 98-99, 99
Higher Broomfield 148
Higher Snab 189
Higher Thrushgill 177
Highwayman Inn 120-121
Hill Inn 121, 127-128
Hills Quarry 96
Himalayan balsam 203
Hindburn 165, 173-179, 178,
183-184, 207
Hindburn Bridge 179
Hines, Edward 190
Hobdale Beck 74
Hodge Bridge 106
Hoffmann kiln 132
Holden, George(s) 241-242
Holden, Richard 242
Hole House 55, 59
Hollin Hill 74, 81
Hollinhead 197
Hollybush Spout 138
Holme House 24
Holme Open Farm 91
Holme, Bryan 184
Holmes Moss 63
Holmes, Sherlock 143
Holy Trinity Chapel, Howgill
54-55, 55
Holy Trinity Church, Casterton
111, 114
Holy Trinity Church, Hornby 184
Hornby 85, 113, 184-186, 189,
191, 203, 213, 231
Hornby Bridge 184, 205
Hornby Castle 147, 184, 184,
186, 205
Hornby Park Wood 173
Hornby Road 179-181, 181,
183, 225
Horrobin, Peter 238
Horse of Bush Howe 53, 55
Horton-in-Ribblesdale 125, 165,
242
Howgill 54-55
Howgills 9, 15-24, 17, 24, 25,
27-28, 33-34, 37, 40, 47-59,
58, 63, 63, 67-74, 78, 81-82,
87, 89, 92, 96, 98-99, 102,
117-118, 121, 148, 181, 191,
206, 223, 242-243
Howrake Rocks 131
Huck’s Bridge 44
Huddleston, Harry 197-198
Hugh the Hermit 240
Hunt’s Gill Beck 183
hunting forest 152, 223
Hurtle Pot 128, 128
Hutchinson, Harry 64
Hutchinson, William 242
Hutton, Rev. John 128, 133
Ibbeth Peril 72, 84, 85, 89
Ingleborough 9, 20-21, 63, 69,
72, 75, 85, 98, 104, 114, 121,
122, 125, 125, 129-132, 129,
130, 131, 135, 137, 143-145,
144, 155-157, 159, 162, 165,
167-168, 171, 175, 177, 179,
181, 182, 184, 186, 186, 189,
191, 194, 204, 211, 223, 225,
233
Ingleborough Cave 115, 156
Ingleborough Common 143
Ingleborough Hall 156
Ingleby family 163
Ingleby, Arthur 163
Ingleton 9, 38, 52, 72, 86, 125,
131-132, 138, 141, 143-144,
148, 161, 165-166, 171, 230
Ingleton Colliery 141
Ingleton Granite 131-132
Ingleton Granite Quarry 131
Ingleton Scenery Company 138
Ingleton Viaduct 141, 141
Ingleton Waterfalls Walk 125,
138, 138, 141
Ingmire Hall 91, 96-97, 148, 198
Insus 221
Ireby 145
Ireby Beck 145
Ireby Fell 115, 145
Ireby Fell Cavern 145
Ireby Hall Farm 145
Iron Age settlements 27, 72,
118, 130
Island House 241
Island Pond 67
Isle of Man 223
Isle of Walney 235, 239
Israel Farm 165
Ivah Great Hill 178
Ivescar 127
Jack Beck 166
Jacobite Army 208, 220
Jamea Al Kauthar Islamic
College 213, 214
Jeffrey’s Mount 37, 39, 39
Jenkin Beck 143
jet-skiers 219
Jingling Lane 112
Jingling Pot 138
John of Gaunt 212
Johnson, David 130
Johnson, Lou 17
Johnson, Thos 125, 131, 141,
199
Jones, Clement 29
Jop Ridding 162
Joseph’s House 64
Judges’ Lodgings 214, 214, 216
Junction Hotel 29
juniper 157
Juniper Cave 165
Juniper Gulf 157, 165
karst 26, 26
Kay, James 105-106
Kay-Shuttleworth family 105106, 119
Kay-Shuttleworth, Sir James 106
Keasden 168, 168
Keasden Beck 166-168, 171
Keasden Moor 168
Keasdendale 166, 166, 177
Kechyn, John 240
Keld Head 133, 135, 137, 145
Keld Head Scar 133
Kelleth 21, 21
Kelleth Rigg 21
Kendal 42, 44, 100, 210, 243
Kenlis, Lord 109
Kensgriff 18, 20, 67
Kent, Giles 206
Kettles Beck 156, 164-165
Kiddes 172
Killington 37, 95-96, 96, 122
Killington Common 96
Killington Hall 95-96, 96, 199
Killington New Bridge 59, 60,
206
Killington Park 96
Killington Reservoir 96, 226
King Pot 135
kingfisher 53, 55, 121-122, 206
Kingsdale 48, 86-87, 115, 125,
132-138, 133, 135, 145, 161
Kingsdale Beck 125, 132-138,
141, 141
Kingsdale Head 125, 133
Kirfit Hall 111
Kirkby Lonsdale 47, 68, 99-102,
106, 110-114, 111, 118, 121122, 147-150, 172, 195, 203,
206, 216, 230, 243
Kirkby Lonsdale Bridge 113
Kirkby Stephen 67-68, 99
Kirkthwaite Chapel 84
Kirthwaite 84
Kit Brow 226
Kitmere 67, 101, 101, 204
Kitten Bridge 183
knitting 86
Knots Wood 225
Knott (Howgills) 73
Knott (Orton Fells) 27
Knott Lane 27
Knotteranum 164, 165
Knotts 59
Knoutberry 20
Knoutberry Haw 63
Lades Marsh 219, 230, 230, 233
Lady Well 28
Laitha Lane 114
Laithbutts 146
Lake District 9, 17, 22, 28, 33,
35, 40, 63, 67, 69, 71, 84, 87,
118, 177
Lake, The (Clapham Beck) 67
Lambrigg wind turbines 59
Lancashire 9, 104, 114-115, 119,
148, 165, 172, 179, 182, 208,
210, 212, 229, 236, 238, 244
Lancashire Coastal Way 227, 229
Lancaster 10, 30, 37, 85, 99, 106,
113-114, 120, 145, 147-149,
162-163, 166, 173, 181, 192193, 198, 203, 206-216, 219229, 234, 236, 238, 244
Lancaster Canal 113, 208-209,
210, 226, 229, 236, 237
Lancaster Canal Company 210
Lancaster Castle 209-213, 211,
213
Lancaster City Museum 198,
207, 210, 216, 221-222
Lancaster Economic
Development Zone 216
Lancaster family 222
Lancaster fort 199, 212, 221
Lancaster Golf Club 222
Lancaster Hole 115, 117, 118
Lancaster Moor 213, 221
Lancaster Priory 211, 211-213,
215, 230
Lancaster Town Hall 214, 221
Lancaster University 216, 226
Lancaster’s shipping trade 214,
216
Lancaster-Glasson railway line
30, 222, 227
Lane Ends 241, 242
Langdale 20-22, 22, 23, 50
Langdale Beck 21-22, 51
Langdale Knott 23
Langthwaite (Casterton) 114
Langthwaite (Quernmore) 224225
Langthwaite Reservoir 206
lapwing 53, 196
large heath butterfly 181
Laurence family 222
Lawkland 163
Lawkland Hall 163, 163
Lawkland Moss 163, 165
Lawson, Robert 233
Lawson’s Wood 189, 193, 195,
205
lax-flowered sea-lavender 227,
227
Lea Yeat 83
Lea Yeat Bridge 85
Leck 119
Index 259
Leck Beck 105, 114-121, 117,
119, 145
Leck Beck Head 115, 117, 118,
145
Leck Beck Head Catchment
Area 115
Leck Fell 105, 114-115, 117-118,
121, 122, 145
Leck Fell ancient mounds 118,
213
Leck Fell House 117
Leck Hall 119, 199
Leeds-Lancaster railway line
149, 163, 166
Leeds–Liverpool Canal 210
Lennox-Boyd, Lady Arabella and
Sir Mark 198
Lenny’s Leap 85
lesser black-backed gulls 181
Lily Mere 95
lime washing 28
limekilns 21, 66, 69
limestone 21, 24, 26-28, 34, 48,
63, 66-69, 73, 77-78, 83, 85,
102-105, 112, 115-118, 125,
128, 130-138, 155-157, 160,
162-165, 206-207, 243
Limestone Country Project 131
limestone pavement (or terrace)
26-27, 26, 131, 135, 167
Lincoln’s Inn Bridge 57, 59
Lingard, John 85, 184, 186
Linghaw 37, 50-51, 51
linoleum 216
Little Asby Scar 26
Little Coum 47
Little Cragg 225
Little Dale 125
Little Dale Beck 125
little egrets 219
Little Fylde 230
Little Ingleborough 165
little North Western line 149
Little Plantation 178
Little Ulgill Beck 48
Little Yarlside 40, 42
Littledale 161, 196-199, 198, 236
Littledale Chapel 197
Littledale Hall 197
Liverpool tide tables 242
Lockin Garth Force 86
Loncastre 210, 211
long-houses 143
Long Lane 156
Long Scar 162
Long Tongue 181
Long, Christopher 132
Longdale 21-22
Longfell Gill 33
Longton family 224
Longton, Michael 224
Longton, Tim junior 224
Longton, Tim senior 224
Lonsdale 9
Lonsdale Hall 148
Lord’s Seat 40
Lost John’s Cave 115
Low Beckfoot 114
Low Bentham 171, 172, 176-178
Low Borrowbridge 47, 47, 51,
95, 120, 130, 211, 213, 221
Low Borrowdale 42, 42, 44
Low Carlingill 47
Low Casterton 114
Low Douk Cave 145
Low Haygarth 70
Low Mill (Bentham) 171
Low Mill (Caton) 200, 203, 205
Low Scale 78
Low Scales 35
Low Sprintgill 69
Low Stockdale Bridge 98
Low Threaber 144
Low Waterside 98, 99
Low Wood School 111, 120
Lower Halton Weir 206
Lower Houses 178
Lower Salter 181, 183
Lower Thrushgill 178
Lowfields Lane 114
Lowgill (Hindburndale) 177179, 221
Lowgill (Howgills) 55, 113
Lowgill Farm 55
Lowgill Viaduct 30, 52, 53, 5455, 57, 113
Lowgill-Clapham railway line
30, 52, 54, 91, 106, 119, 127,
132, 141, 166
Lowood 120
Loyn Bridge 113, 151, 151, 205
Loyne 9, 10
Loyne railway network 29, 30
Luge Gill 98-99
Lummer Gill 52
Lummers Gill 50
Lune Aqueduct 113, 203, 208,
210
Lune estuary 9, 11, 98, 219, 223,
229-242, 244
Lune Gorge 37, 37, 51, 95, 156,
194, 223
Lune Intake 206
Lune Millennium Park 193, 202,
206, 210
Lune Rivers Trust 54, 54, 189
Lune Shipbuilding Company 216
Lune Spring Garden Centre 18
Lune Valley Hampers 146
Lune Valley Ramble 114, 150,
189, 192, 205
Lune View Cottage 242
Lune’s Bridge 38, 38, 113, 206
Lunecliffe Hall 220
Lunesdale 9, 48, 130
Lunesdale Arms 121
Lunesdale fell ponies 38-39
Lunesdale Poor Law Union 186
Lunesdale Studio Trail 179
Lunesdale Walk 150
Luneside 57, 59
Luneside East 216
Lupton, Roger 81
lynchets 161
Lythe Brow Wood 223
M6 37, 37
M6 bridge 208, 209
Mabbin Crag 44
Mallerstang 63, 67, 69
Mallow Gill 183
Mallowdale 181, 183
Mallowdale Bridge 183
Mallowdale Fell 181
Mallowdale Pike 129, 179, 181
management of the Lune 206,
206
Mansergh 100-101
Mansergh Hall 101
Marble Steps Pot 145
Maritime Museum 214, 216
Marmaduke House 147
marsh 167-168
marsh gentian 168
marsh orchid 24
Martel, Edouard 155
Marton Arms 121, 143
Masongill 135, 143
Masongill Fell Lane 143
Masongill Hall 143
Masongill House 143, 143
Mason-Hornby, Anthony 181
Mawson, Thomas 199
Mayfield Chicks 119
Meal Bank Bridge 183
Mealbank Quarry 132, 138
meetinghouse 57, 85, 91, 172
Megger Stones 87, 88
Melling 148-150
Melling Hall 149-150
Melling Viaduct 149, 149
Melling Wood 183
Memorial Plantation 145
Meregill Hole 131
merlin 167, 196
Methodism 77, 144
Mewith 171
Mewith Head Hall 171
Middle Grain 22
Middle Salter 181
Middle Washfold Caves 131
Middle Wood 182, 183
Middle Wood environmental
centre 182-183
Middleton (Howgills) 17, 22
Middleton 97, 121, 204
Middleton Bridge 91
Middleton family 97
Middleton Fell 59, 87, 92, 93106, 95, 97, 112, 118, 148,
175, 181, 225
Middleton Hall 97, 97, 199, 213
Middleton Hall Beck 95, 97
Middleton Hall Bridge 99
Middleton Sands 235
Midwath Stead 35, 39
milestones 99
Mill Bridge (Dentdale) 89
Mill Bridge (Lowgill) 178
Mill House 99
Mill Houses 178, 179
Mill Inn 226
Mill Race Bridge 143
Mill Race or Water Cut 143
Millennium Bridge 210, 211, 215
Millennium Ribble Link 210
Miller’s Way footpath 42
millstone grit 28, 68, 130, 133,
138, 152, 164, 168, 224-225,
243-244
Millthrop 82
Millthrop Bridge 82
Mitchell’s Stone 27
Monteagle, Lord 184, 203
Moor Gill 144
Moor Rigg 78
Moorcock Hall 194
Moore, Giles 100
Moorgarth 193
Moorhead Pits 173
Moorside Farm 193
moraine 18, 137
Morecambe 30, 210, 219-220,
234
Morecambe Bay 21, 40, 53, 98,
117-118, 203, 211, 214, 219,
223, 233-244, 243
Morland family 58, 96
Morland, Jacob 58
Morley family 173
Morton, H.V. 212
moss stocks 240
Mother Dyke 223
motte and bailey castle 30, 81,
111, 144, 148, 150-151, 207,
211
Moughton 157, 159, 160, 162
Moughton Scars 160
mountain bikers 181
Mountain View 70
Murthwaite 68-69
Murthwaite fell ponies 68
Murthwaite Park 70
Musgrave, Sir Richard 67
mushroom farms 224
Nappa Scars 160, 162
Nateby 192, 240-241
Nateby church 240
Nateby Hall Farm 237
National Cycle Network route
36, 156, 210
national divide 63-64
National Nature Reserve 131
National Park boundaries 9, 35,
118, 118
National Trust 9, 71
natterjack toads 238
Natural England 26, 115, 118,
204, 243
Natural Retreats 42
Needle House 64, 65, 69
Needlehouse Gill 63-64, 69
Nether Burrow 120
Nether Fields Wood 55
Nether House 55
Nether Kellet 207
Nether Lodge 224
Netherwood Hall 173
Nevy Gill 22
New Field 58-59
New House (Gaisgill) 22
New House (Rawtheydale) 69
New Park 95, 96
New Quay 216
Newbiggin-on-Lune 17-18, 21,
24, 28-29
Newbiggin-Tebay railway line
29-30
Newby 165
Newby Cote 165
Newby Head 126
Newby Moor 165
Newby Moss 165
Newton (Lancaster) 209
Newton 148
Newton Beck (Lancaster) 209
Newton Beck 147-148
Norber 155, 160
Norber erratics 160-162, 161,
213
Norbreck Farm 239
North Craven Fault 137, 161
North Lancashire Bridleway 181
North, Major North 147
North, Richard Toulmin 147
North Yorkshire 9, 83, 115, 117,
165
NST Travel Group 237
Nun House Outrake 89
Oakley, Mr. E. de C. 196
Oaks, The 59
Occupation Road 87-88, 90, 157
Oddie’s Lane 127, 131
Old Glasson 229
old Lune 149-150
Old Salt Road 179
Old Scotch Road 95, 101
Old Tebay 29
Old Toll House 190
Old Town 101, 101, 181
Old Vicarage (Burton-inLonsdale) 145
Old Vicarage (Melling) 150
oldest dated bell 191
Ordovician 28, 70, 73, 138
Orton 25-28, 29, 38, 68
Orton Beacon 27
Orton Common 25
Orton Fells 26-28, 26, 35, 243
Orton Hall 28
Orton Scar 26-27, 66, 225
Orton stone circle 27, 33
Ottergear Clough 223
otters 189
Otway family 91
Otway, Sir John 91, 97
Outfield 148
Outhwaite 183
Outhwaite Wood 182-183
Over Burrow 68, 120, 120, 130131, 146, 176, 199, 208, 211,
221
Over Hall 145
Over Houses Great Wood 178
Overton 219, 229-230, 230, 233,
233
Owen, Richard 85
Oxenber Wood 161
oystercatchers 53, 114, 121, 205,
240
Oyston family 191
Oyston, Owen 191
Packhorse Hill 40
Paley & Austin 106, 193, 207,
241
Paley, Edward 106, 173
Paley, Harry 193
Paradise 77
Park Hill 96, 99
Park House 178
Park House Wood 183
Parrocks 37
Partridge, Jim 202, 203
Patty’s Farm 239
Peacock Hill 89
Pearson, Alexander 110
Pease family 110
Pecca Falls 138
Peggleswright 89
Pendle 63, 69, 135, 175
Pendle witches 212
Pennine Bridleway National
Trail 83
Pennine Cycleway 37, 156
Penny Bridge 9, 203, 203
Penny Street 221
Pen-y-Ghent 21, 63, 69, 75, 85,
125, 157, 162, 182
Permian Red Sandstone 138
Perpetual Arthur 173
Petty Hall 28
Philpin Lane 127
Pickering family 96
Pickering Quarry 34
Pikestone Lane 39
Pilling 238, 240-242, 241
Pilling Embankment 240, 242
Pilling Moss 240-242
Pilling Pig 242
Pilling Water 240
Pinfold Beck 148
Pinfold Bridge 25
pink granite 27, 33
Playfair’s Cave 132
Plover Hill 239
Plover Scar lighthouse 235, 236
Point of Lune 235, 243
Pooley, Captain Richard 184
Pope Leo XII 186
Port Commission 216, 229
Port of Lancaster Smoke House
229
post-glacial erosion 18, 48, 50
Pot Scar 163
potholes 26, 68, 115-118, 125,
128, 131, 133-135, 145, 157
Potlands 21
potteries 143
Potters Brook 236
Potts Corner 234
Potts Wood 196
Premonstratensian abbey 152,
240
Preston, William 236
Priestfield Beck 57-58
Priory Farm 152
purple moor-grass 131, 165
pylons 220, 221
Quaker Burial Ground 68
Quakers 57, 68, 71, 77, 85, 91,
117, 172, 212, 233
Queen of Fairies Chair 171
Queen’s Chair 196
Queen’s Gardens 91
Quernmore 67, 223-225, 226
Quernmore Park Hall 223
querns 86, 224
Ragill Beck 196
railway network 29, 30
Railway Place 229
Railway Terrace 55
Rais Beck 22, 24-25
Raisbeck 24-26, 35, 110, 204
Raisbeck Common 25
Raisbeck pinfold 25, 110
raised mire 96, 163
Raisgill Hall 24-25
Randygill Top 18, 20-22, 67
Rare Breeds Survival Trust 38
Rash Bridge 89
Raven Ray 137
Raven Scar Cave 131
Raven’s Castle 166
Ravenray Bridge 137
Ravens Castle 166
Ravenstonedale 17
Rawthey (Uldale) Force 63,
64, 72
Rawthey 11, 59-64, 65, 67-74,
69, 79-82, 89-92, 92, 95, 95,
203, 206, 243
Rawthey Bridge 64, 69
Rawthey Cave 64
Rawthey Gill 63, 63, 78
Rawtheydale 63-64, 68, 70-74,
81-82, 87, 89-92
Rayne Bridge 21
Rayseat Long Cairn 24, 213
Rayseat Sike 24
red squirrels 70, 75, 182
Redwell Inn 121
reed bed 96, 223
Reginald Farrer Nature Trail 156
Reid, Colin 202
Renn, Mark 202
Rennie, John 208-209
rhododendrons 100, 204
Ribble 126, 152, 163, 210
Ribblehead Station 126
Ribblehead Viaduct, see Batty
Moss Viaduct
Ribblesdale 87, 125-126, 156
Ribchester 120, 176, 221
Richard Man 117
Riddings 55
Ridge 209
Ridges 178
Ridgy Pool 240
Riggs Farm 178
Rigmaden 100
Rigmaden Bridge 100
Rigmaden Farm 100
Rigmaden Park 100, 148
ring cairns 130
ringed plovers 219
Index 261
Ripley Orphanage 213
Rise Hill 75-77, 88, 88-89, 98
Rise View 89
Risehill Tunnel 84, 126
Rival Falls 132
(for River X see X)
Robert Hall 172
Robert the Bruce 198
Robin Hood 40
Robin Proctor’s Scar 160, 160
Rock m Jock cottages 200
Roeburn 179-184, 189
Roeburn Glade 196
Roeburndale 150, 161, 171, 179183, 181, 225
Roeburndale Woods 181
Roger of Poitou 148, 208, 211212, 222
Roman altar 207
Roman cavalry tombstone 221
Roman fort 47, 120, 211, 221
Roman kilns 223
Roman milestone 100, 100, 198,
204, 212, 221
Roman road 51, 68, 99-100, 120,
131, 145, 176-179, 207, 221,
236, 241
Roman stonework 120, 120
Romney, George 58
Rooten Brook Farm 224
rotational strip burning 168
Rotten Bottom 181
Rough Fell sheep 27-28, 28
Roughsedge, Hornby 171
Round Hill 176, 179
Round Ing 78
Roundthwaite 39, 44
Roundthwaite Beck 38
Roundthwaite Common 38-39
Roundthwaite Farm 38
rowing 208
Rowten Cave 135
Rowten Pot 135, 135, 138
Rowton Brook 223-224
Rowton Brook Fell 223
Royal Albert Asylum 213, 214
Royal Foresters 208
Rudyard Kipling 24
Rumble Row Mill 200
Rumbling Hole 117
Ruskin Library 216
Ruskin, John 111-112
Ruskin’s View 111-112, 112, 112,
118, 121, 203
Ryelands House 222
Sabinus 207
Sally Beck 11, 64, 66-70, 69
salmon 121, 122
salmon action plan 122
salmon fishing 209
Salt Ayre 193, 219
salt marshes 219, 227, 235
Salter Fell 179
Salterwath 34
Salterwath Bridge 47
Salterwath Limestone 34
Sambo’s Grave 235
sand martin 53, 122, 195
Sand Tarn 67, 67, 69
sandstone 28
Sandwath Beck 18
Scale Ford 216
Scaleber Lane 114
Scaleber Woods 142
Scales Moor 127
Scar Close 131
Scarecrow Festival 184
Scarside 27
Scotchergill 89
Scotforth 221
Scout Green 34, 38, 110
Scow (middle Dentdale) 89
Scow (upper Dentdale) 85
sea trout 171
Second Terrace 233, 233
Sedbergh 9, 17, 38, 59, 74, 7778, 81-82, 81, 82, 84, 91, 99,
148, 189, 213, 216, 230, 243
Sedbergh School 81, 84
Sedgwick Memorial 86
Sedgwick Trail 77-78, 84, 213
Sedgwick, Adam 84-86, 84
Sefton, the Earl of 196
Sellet Hall 148
Sellet Hall Beck 148
Settlebeck Gill 81
Settle-Carlisle railway line 30,
52, 75, 75, 77, 83-85, 125128
Shacklabank 58-59
shakeholes 26, 73, 78, 125, 131,
165
Shap Blue Quarry 33
Shap Fells 9, 27, 33, 118, 243
Shap granite 34
Shap Pink Quarry 33, 33, 40
Shap Spa 34
Shap summit 29, 40
Shap Wells Hotel 34
Sharp, Jack 125
Sharpe, Edmund 223
sheepdog trialling 197, 224
Sherlock, Randall 143
Shield Hanging 212
Ship Inn 121, 200
Shire Hall 212
Short Gill 102
Short Gill Bridge 102
show caves 132, 157
Shuttleworth, Janet 106
Shuttleworth, Lord Charles 119
Sigurd the Volsung legend 208
silk mill 172, 226
Sill family 86
Silurian 28, 33, 48, 68, 70, 77,
102, 131-132, 137, 157,
160-161
Simon Fell 131, 157
Simon’s Seat 22
Simpson, Samuel 214
sinkholes 26
Site of Special Scientific Interest
25, 66, 70, 73, 85, 115, 132,
138, 163, 165, 168, 172, 179
Skelbow Barn 225
Skerton 209-210, 222
Skerton Bridge 113, 210
Skerton Weir 208-209
Skew Bridge 166
Skirwith Quarry 132
skylark 53, 167
Slaidburn 152, 165
Slapestone Bridge 24
slave trade 86, 202, 216, 235
small-leaved lime 192
small pearl-bordered fritillary
butterfly 163, 165
Smeer Hall 183
Smithy Beck 55, 59
Snab Beck 189
Snab, The 189
snails 24
Snatchems 219
snipe 24, 33, 53, 121, 148, 163,
196
Snooty Fox 112
Snow Falls 132
Snowdon 223
Society of Friends 57
Souther Scales 125
Spear Pots 27
Special Area of Conservation 86
Speight, Harry 86, 131, 161
Spen Lodge 178
Sportsman’s Inn 85
spotted redshanks 219
Spout, The 48, 48, 50
Springs Wood (Killington) 95
Springs Wood (Leck) 118
Sprintgill 68-69
St Andrew’s Church, Sedbergh
81, 230
St Andrew’s Church, Dent 86,
230
St Bartholomew’s Church,
Barbon 106, 106
St Chad’s Church, Claughton 191
St George’s Quay 214-216, 215,
229, 234
St George’s Works 216
St Gregory’s Church, Sedbergh
57
St Helen’s Church, Overton 229230, 230
St Helen’s Well 18
St James’s Church, Clapham 156
St James’s Church, Tebay 29
St James the Less’s Church,
Tatham 173, 175
St John the Baptist’s Church,
Arkholme 150
Garsdale 77
Pilling 241
Tunstall 146-147, 146, 230
St Leonard’s Church, Chapel-leDale 128
St Margaret’s Church, Bentham
171
St Margaret’s Church, Hornby
184, 191, 230
St Mary the Virgin’s Church,
Kirkby Lonsdale 111, 111,
230
St Mary’s Church, Hornby 184
St Mary’s Church, Ingleton 141,
230
St Mary’s of the Marsh 240
St Mary’s Church, Lancaster
Priory 211, 211-213, 215, 230
St Matthew’s Church, Keasden
168
St Michael’s Church, Cockerham
236, 239
St Michael’s Church,
Whittington 148
St Oswald’s Church, Thorntonin-Lonsdale 143
St Paul’s Church, Brookhouse
194
St Peter’s Church, Mansergh 101
St Peter’s Church, Quernmore
223
St Thomas and St Elizabeth’s
Church, Thurnham 227, 239
St Wilfrid’s Church, Halton 207,
208, 230
St Wilfrid’s Church, Melling
150, 150, 230
Stairend Bridge 178
Stakeley Beck 34
Standard on Burn Moor 167
Stangerthwaite 59, 60
Stanley Bridge 113-114
Stanley, Oliver 113
Stanley, Sir Edward 184
Starkie family 222
Stauvins Farm 197
Stephenson, Norma 166
Stockdale Beck 98-100
Stocks 59
Stodday 220
Stone Hall 74, 81, 81
Stone House 83
Stonehouse Farm 85
Stonor, the Hon. H. 196
Stony Gill 78
Stony Head 27
Stoops Moss 85
Storey Gallery 216
Stork 121, 227, 228
Storrs Hall 150
Straight Bridge 73
Street Farm 68
Streetside 68
Strid 59
Studfold 66
Studrigg Scar 157, 159, 162
Sturgeon, William 85, 148, 148
Stwarth 20
Sulber Gate 162
Summersgill Fell 176
Sun Inn 86, 121
Sun, The 121
Sunbiggin 24, 26-27, 213
Sunbiggin Moor 24, 25
Sunbiggin Tarn 24, 24, 27, 67
Sunderland 229, 230, 233, 233235, 235
Sunderland Point 234, 235
Sunterra Europe 227
sustainable tourism 226
swallowhole 26
swan 53
Swan Inn 98-99, 99
Swans 178
Swarth Fell 63, 64, 68-69, 74
Swarthgill House 77
Sweet Beck 196, 225
Swilla Glen 138
Swine Tail 155
Sword of Damocles 132
T’Owd Rose Tree 148
Tarn 69
Tarn Brook 193
Tarn Hill 74
Tarn Rigg Hill 63, 78
Tarn Sike 24
Tarnbrook Fell 181
Tatham 148, 173, 175, 177, 184,
204, 242
Tatham Bridge 173
Tatham family 146
Tatham Hall 173
Tatham Park Wood 173
Tatham Station 173
Taythes Gill 72-73
Tebay 17, 21, 29-30, 30, 34, 114,
121, 189, 221, 243
Tebay Bridge 29
Tebaygill Beck 25
Tebay-Lancaster railway line
30, 216
Temperance House 224
temperance movement 224
Terry Bank 101
Terrybank Tarn 67, 101, 101
Tewitfield 210
Thacker, Mick 202
Thieves Moss 162
Thirlmere Aqueduct 195, 195,
205, 223
Thirnbeck Gill 98
Thistle Hill 166
Thompson, Amelia 109
Thompson, William 109
Thornbush 179, 181
Thornton Force 72, 137, 137,
157, 161
Thornton, Richard 144-145
Thornton, Thomas 145
Thornton-in-Lonsdale 121, 133,
143
Thoroughbred Rehabilitation
Centre 192
Threaber Beck 144
Three Counties System 115
Three Little Boys 100
Three Men of Gragareth 117
Three Mile House 34, 95-96
Three Peaks 125, 125, 157, 167,
171, 176, 179, 225
Three Peaks fell race 125
Three Peaks walk 125, 126, 127,
165
Thrush Gill 150
Thurland Castle 147, 198
Thurnham 220, 226-227
Thurnham Hall 199, 226-227,
240
Thurnham Hall Country Club
227, 239
Thurnham Leisure Group 227
Thurnham Mill 226
Thurnham Moss 238, 240
Thursgill 74
Thursland Hill 239
Thwaite (Howgills) 55
Thwaite (near Clapham) 162
Thwaite Lane 156
tidal limit 209
tide tables 242
Tithe Barn Hill 229, 239
Titterington, Mrs 172
Toll Bar 99
Toll Bar Cottage 99, 111, 114
Tom Croft Cave 78
Tom Croft Hill 78
Tommy Bridge 85, 89
top 10 birds 53
top 10 body-parts 181
top 10 bridges 113
top 10 churches 230
top 10 cultural sites 216
top 10 dales 161
top 10 halls 199
top 10 historical sites 213
top 10 lakes 67
top 10 peaks 129
top 10 people 85
top 10 pubs 121
top 10 viewpoints 225
top 10 waterfalls 72
Tossbeck 98
Tostig, Earl 148, 152, 208
Tow Scar 137, 135, 138, 141
Tower House 17
Town End 199-200
Treasonfield 100
Treesponsibility 178
Trimble Hall 178
Trough of Bowland 152
Trow Gill 155-156, 156
Tunstall 111, 121, 145-148
Tunstall family 147
Tunstall, Cuthbert 147
Tunstall, Sir Brian 147
Tunstall, Sir Marmaduke 147
Tunstall, Sir Thomas 147
turbary 135
Turbary Road 135, 138
turf ponies 100
Turner, J.M.W. 111, 209
Turnerford 168
Turnerford Bridge 166
turnpike roads 99
Twisleton Hall 127, 138
Twisleton Scars 131
Twiss 125, 141
Udale Beck 196, 198
ulcerative dermal necrosis 122
Uldale 63, 69
Uldale Beck 22
Uldale Force 63, 64, 72
Uldale Gill 63, 69
Uldale Head 48
Uldale House 64
Ullathorns 98
unconformity 137, 157, 160, 162
Underfell 114
Underley Bridge 109, 109, 114
Underley Grange 114
Underley Hall 109-110, 110, 114,
148, 199
United Reformed Church, Forton
236
Upper Dentdale Cave System
85-86
Upton family 91, 96
Upton-Cottrell-Dormer, Mrs
Florence 91
Ure 75
Vale of Lune Chapel 57, 57
Vertigo geyeri 24
Verulus, Aurelius 47
Vespasian 120
Vicarage Fields 211
Victoria Monument 221
Victorian Fair 112
Viking cross 208, 208
Vodullus 221
Wainwright, Alfred 33, 125,
128, 138
Walk 1: A Circuit of Bowderdale,
including Green Bell 20
Walk 2: Orton, Orton Fells and
Sunbiggin Tarn 27
Walk 3: Roundthwaite Common
and Bretherdale 39
Walk 4: Upper Borrowdale,
Crookdale and Wasdale 40
Walk 5: Lower Borrowdale 44
Walk 6: Lowgill and Brown
Moor 55
Walk 7: Fox’s Pulpit and the
Waterside Viaduct 59
Walk 8: Fell End Clouds, Wild
Boar Fell and Uldale Gill 69
Walk 9: The Calf via Great
Dummacks 74
Walk 10: Grisedale and East
Baugh Fell 78
Walk 11: Upper Dentdale and
Great Knoutberry Hill 85
Walk 12: Middle Dentdale 89
Walk 13: Middleton Fell 99
Walk 14: A Loop between Kirkby
Lonsdale and Barbon 114
Walk 15: Leck Fell, Gragareth
and Great Coum 117
Walk 16: Whernside from
Chapel-le-Dale 127
Walk 17: Kingsdale and Yordas
Cave 138
Walk 18: Crummackdale and the
Norber Erratics 162
Walk 19: Ingleborough and
Gaping Gill 165
Walk 20: Middle Hindburndale
and Lowgill 178
Walk 21: Roeburndale 183
Walk 22: Crook o’Lune and
Loyn Bridge 205
Index 263
Walk 23: Ward’s Stone 225
Walk 24: Glasson, Cockersand
Abbey and Cockerham 239
Walton Summit 210
Wandale Hill 70
Wandale Beck 70
Ward, the Hon. J. 196
Ward’s Stone 57, 181, 196, 197,
198, 223, 225
Wasdale 33, 40
Wasdale Beck 33, 33
Wasdale Pike 33
Wash Dub 162
Water Cut 143-144
water polo 216
water vole 189
Waterside Pottery 143
Waterside Viaduct 30, 54, 57, 57,
59, 113
Water Witch 121
Waterworks Bridge 195, 195,
205
Wath 18, 18, 20
Weasdale 17, 18, 20
Weasdale Beck 18
Weathercote Cave 128
Webster, George 100, 148
Well Tower 212
Wenning 129, 135, 152, 155-156,
165-166, 168, 171-173, 172,
175, 184, 184-186, 189, 189,
205-206, 243
Wennington 30, 149, 166, 173,
175, 175
Wennington Hall 173, 175, 216
Wennington-Carnforth railway
line 30, 149
Wennington-Lancaster railway
line 30, 149, 186, 193, 203,
210
Wesley, John 144
West Baugh Fell 11, 70, 73
West Baugh Fell Tarn 67
West Fell (Howgills) 20, 22
West Fell (Whernside) 127
West Grain 22
West House 86
West Scale 78
western bypass 220
Westhouse 144, 144
Westmorland 9, 37, 48, 50
Wharfe 160, 162
Wharfe Gill Sike 162
Wharfe Wood 161
Wharton, Rev. Posthumus 81
Whelprigg 109, 114, 148
Whernside 9, 21, 63, 67, 69, 72,
75, 78, 85-87, 90, 95, 98, 104,
125, 127-130, 130, 133, 135,
135, 167, 175, 181, 182, 223
Whernside Manor 86
Whernside Tarns 67, 86, 87
Whewell, William 85
Whin Stone Gill 63
Whinash 35, 39, 42
Whinash Wind Farm 35, 39, 42
Whinfell 42-44, 44, 129, 223
Whinfell Beacon 42, 44, 225
Whinney Hill 192
Whinny Haw 59
Whitby Bird 210
White Fell Head 53
White Hill 175-176, 176
White Scar Caves 115, 132, 132,
157
White Scars 129
White Spout 196
Whitray Fell 175
Whittington 85, 121, 148, 150,
207
Whittington Hall 148, 199
Widdale 126
Widdale Fell 64
Widdale Tarns 85
Wilbourn, Colin 202
Wild Boar Fell 9, 20-21, 63,
67-69, 67, 68, 74, 85, 95, 98,
118, 126, 129-130, 225
Wildlife Trust 193, 230
Williamson Park 221-222
Williamson, James (father) 216,
221
Williamson, James (son) 85,
216, 221
Willow Mill 200
Wilson Pony 100
Wilson, Christopher 100-101
Wilson, Christopher Wyndham
100
Wilson, Rev. William Carus 111,
120
Wilson-Patten, John 237
Wind Scarth 48
wind turbines 35, 42, 97, 150151, 193, 193-194, 196, 204205, 225, 235, 241
Winder 17, 21, 59, 74, 81, 82,
129
Windy Arbour 236
Winmarleigh 237, 237
Winmarleigh Hall 237
Winmarleigh Moss 237-238
Winterscales 127
Winterscales Beck 126-128, 128
Winterscales Farm 128
Winterscleugh 39
Wold Fell 64, 83, 85
Wolfhole Crag 179, 179
Woodies 205
Woodland Trust 73, 144-145
Woodman Lane 119
Wouda, Marjan 202
Wrampool Brook 240
Wray 178, 183-184, 186
Wray Bridge 179, 183-184
Wray Fair 184
Wray flood 183, 190
Wray House 184
Wray Mill 183
Wray Wood Moor 183
Wraygreen 69
Wrayton 145
wren 102
Wrestle Gill 98
Wyatt, James 147
Wyatt(ville), Jeffry 147
Wyre 152, 206, 224-225, 236,
240-241
Wyre-Lune Sanctuary 240
Yarlside 18, 20, 67, 70, 71
Yordas 133
Yordas Cave 133-135, 138
Yordas Gill 135
Yordas Wood 135, 138
Yoredale series 130
Yorkshire Dales 9, 10, 17, 26,
48, 48, 63, 67, 75, 83, 86,
102, 117-118, 125, 127, 129,
131, 137, 141, 163-165, 168,
206, 243
Zreĉe, Slovenia 82
The Land of the Lune is a guide to the region of northwest
England that lies within the Lune watershed. It flows from
the fells (the Howgills, Orton Fells, Shap Fells, Ingleborough,
Ward’s Stone, ...) through the dales (Rawtheydale, Dentdale,
Barbondale, Gretadale, Wenningdale, ...) visiting natural and
man-made features of interest along the way (including all the
towns and villages from Newbiggin-on-Lune to Pilling).
ISBN
978-0-9548605-2-3

The Land of the Lune

Transcription

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